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http://fenian32.livejournal.com/4406131.html
By Bimpe Fatogun
Irish News
28/02/2009
A man who was charged with the murder of Robert Hamill has told the public inquiry into his death that he could tell a Catholic “by looking at them”.
Stacey Bridgett was one of five men who had murder charges against them dropped after two key witnesses withdrew evidence.
He was aged 19 at the time of the attack on Mr Hamill (25) in Portadown.
The Catholic father-of-three died in hospital of brain damage 12 days after being kicked unconscious by a loyalist mob in April 1997.
Witnesses claimed police sitting in a nearby Land Rover failed to intervene.
Mr Bridgett denied involvement at the inquiry yesterday.
He said he had been exchanging banter with a policewoman in a Land Rover about his “Ralph Lauren shirt and Replay jeans” when the fracas began.
“She was talking about me being stylish,” he said.
Mr Bridgett said the Land Rover had obscured his view of trouble at the junction of Market Street and Thomas Street – a known sectarian flashpoint.
“I didn’t hear it and the police didn’t hear it,” he said.
“We were having an amicable conversation.”
He claimed to have “pretended to be a Catholic” when a man approached him because he feared being assaulted if identified as a Protestant.
When pressed on how he knew the man’s religious denomination, the witness replied: “Sometimes you can sort of tell one by looking at them. I can sort of tell what they look like.”
Barra McGrory QC, appearing for the Hamill family, put it to Mr Bridgett he was “a sectarian bigot... motivated by sheer hatred of Catholics when you attacked Robert Hamill... and jumped on his head”.
Mr Bridgett denied this, insisting he had been struck on the nose in an unprovoked attack near the Land Rover and then retreated to “allow my nose to bleed”.
He said he never saw anyone on the ground being kicked during what he described as a “killing match” involving between 20 and 30 people.
Mr Bridgett said he had no explanation for a drop of his blood found on Mr Hamill’s trousers, said to be consistent with blood falling on the murdered man from above as he lay on the ground.
He said a sore foot he was suffering from after the murder was from a worked-related injury.
Police statements were read placing Mr Bridgett at the front of an angry mob trying to break through their lines to continue attacking Mr Hamill and his cousin, who was also unconscious.
Mr McGrory said the witness had been “crazed with drink that night”, with one officer recalling: “His eyes... I’ve never seen such a look of excitement on his face”.
However, Mr Bridgett said the same officer had wrongly described him as wearing a charcoal shirt that night.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/man-held-over-1972-double-murder-14211430.html
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
A man was arrested today by PSNI officers reinvestigating a double murder more than 35 years ago at the height of Northern Ireland's Troubles.
The suspect, now 51, would have been no more than 14 at the time of the killing.
He was detained in Antrim by the Historical Enquiries Team over the murders in October 1972 of a bar manager and assistant bar manager at the Northern Wine Company off-licence in Tates Avenue, south Belfast, near the loyalist Village area.
Catholics Leo John Duffy, 45, and Thomas Marron, 59, were shot dead in a sectarian attack blamed on the loyalist Ulster Defence Association, although there was never a claim of responsibility.
Both men were shot several times at point-blank range in the attack on the Catholic-owned business.
A student helping out in the bar, Kevin Finnegan, was badly injured in the shooting.
Mr Finnigan went on to become a prominent QC who defended both republicans and loyalists in Troubles-related cases.
In a statement to an inquest held into the double murder, Mr Finnigan said the premises were held up by two young men, each armed with a gun and wearing helmets and combat jackets.
A police witness told the inquest the shooting seemed to be sectarian although the till was also robbed.
The suspect is being held at the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Serious Crime Suite in Antrim.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/7920694.stm
By Enda McClafferty
BBC News
The family of a Londonderry man left in a vegetative state after a sectarian assault have said they won't rest until all those responsible are caught.
Paul McCauley, 32, suffered permanent brain damage after the attack in the Waterside in 2006.
Daryl Proctor, now 18, is serving a 12 year sentence in a young offenders centre for his role in the attack.
Mr McCauley's father Jim called on Proctor to give police the names of the others involved.
"It is totally wrong that these people should walk free," he said.
"I think we as a family owe it to Paul, and I think those who know the names owe it to society, because this damage has been done to us but the threat remains to others," he said.
On Tuesday night on BBC Spotlight, the McCauley family talk about the night their son's life was destroyed.
They describe how it's affected his 10-year-old daughter and the rest of their family.
"We feel Paul's in there somewhere, Paul's in there and we feel as if we would love to get him out but you just feel he's in a tunnel that he can't escape from," his mother Cathy said.
Daryl Proctor, who was 15 at the time, was the only person to be convicted in relation to the attack.
Farewell party
On 16 July 2006, Paul was at a barbecue in Chapel Road in Derry. It was a farewell party for a friend who was heading off to teach abroad.
Paul was standing around a bonfire with two other friends, Mark Lynch and Gavin Mullin when they were attacked by a gang.
They were knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked and stamped on.
Mark who suffers from the muscle wasting disease - muscular dystrophy - was kicked about the head.
"I had a broken jaw in three places, in the chin and side and a large footprint on my back and a large footprint on the side of my face, and some bruising on the back of my arms," he said.
But it was Paul who suffered most. Part of his skull was crushed when his head was stamped on.
As a result he suffered permanent brain damage and is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.
Doctors say his life expectancy is between 10 and 15 years.
Paul's family are now fighting to get all his attackers in court.
They want Proctor to give police the names of those who were with him that night.
They also suspect others in the wider loyalist community know who was involved and they want them to come forward.
Paul McCauley's story features on BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight on BBC 1 at 2235 GMT on Tuesday, 4 March.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/7920694.stm
Published: 2009/03/03 10:40:37 GMT
© BBC MMIX
http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Spotlight-focuses-on-brutal-Derry.5030353.jp
Published Date: 03 March 2009
By Staff reporter
Tonight's BBC Spotlight programme will focus on a Derry family's despair after a brutal sectarian attack left their son in a vegetative state.
The investigative report features an interview with Jim and Cathy McCauley on dealing with their son Paul's condition and their fight to prosecute all of his attackers.
Spotlight also talks to the family of Daryl Proctor - the only person prosecuted for the vicious beating of the 32 year-old father of one.
Proctor's family are asked why their son got involved in such a brutal sectarian attack and why he never told police who else was involved.
His stepdad, Alex McClements, denies his son was a member of the UDA, despite an Independent Monitoring Commission report concluding the attack was carried out by members of the UDA.
He says: "My son has never been in the UDA, my son will never be in the UDA; at the end of the day, he doesn't know anything about Northern Ireland, he does not know anything about the Troubles."
Dr John McCann, Consultant at the Acquired Brain Injury Unit in Belfast, tells Spotlight that the extent of Paul's injuries were "devastating".
Paul's mother Cathy tells interviewers about coping with her son's horrendous condition.
"We feel Paul's in there somewhere; Paul's in there and we feel as if, you know, we would love to get him out but you just feel he's in...a tunnel that he can't escape from."
http://www.ballymoneytimes.co.uk/news/McMullan-urges-cooperation-with-Ombudsman.5031834.jp
Published Date: 04 March 2009
By Staff reporter
SINN Féin Councillor, Oliver McMullan, has said that his Party's view on the Police Ombudsman revisiting the case of Sergeant Joe Campbell's shooting in Cushendall over 30 years ago, is quite clear;
Councillor McMullan said in a statement: "This man was a member of the RUC who died as a result of the conflict. There have long been allegations of Special Branch involvement in his killing. Of course his family have suffered grievously. They have tADVERTISEMENThe right to the truth. We support them in this.
“Sinn Féin argued for the Police Ombudsman to have the necessary powers to investigate historical cases like this one. Unfortunately the British Government did not grant sufficient powers to the Ombudsman for this to be a truly effective route.
“This is precisely why Sinn Féin were the first party here to call for the establishment of a Truth Recovery Process under the auspices of the UN. Such a process must be victim centred, effective and independent.
“I would repeat that call today. Dealing with our past in an effective and compassionate way is crucial if we are to continue the process of transforming society across the island."
When asked if people should go to the Ombudsman, the Glens Councillor and Moyle DPP Chair said;
"Well, given the history of this case and the allegations of state involvement, I can see why some people may be sceptical of coming forward. However our position has long been that people should co-operate with the work of the Ombudsman and that includes this case."
http://features.csmonitor.com/economyrebuild/2009/03/02/irelands-boom-ends-%E2%80%93-with-a-vengeance/
Protests and anger grow as 'Celtic Tiger's' economy takes nosedive.
By Jason Walsh | Contributor/ March 2, 2009 edition
For nearly a decade, Ireland enjoyed a steady rise to one of the world’s hottest economies. In just a few short months, though, the nation has cooled to a near freezing-point. And with each passing day, the situation grows more dire.
Iconic native businesses, like Waterford Crystal, have shut up shop. Multinationals, such as Dell, are relocating to low-wage economies in eastern Europe. Banks are being raided and taken over by the government.
Ireland’s downfall is proving to be as dramatic as its recent rise. Not long ago, it was a backwater languishing on the fringes of Europe, but Ireland’s educated and English-speaking workforce and low tax rates transformed it into a powerhouse that acted as a bridge between the United States and markets in the European Union. Until last year, the country enjoyed a decade of near continuous economic growth, earning it the nickname “the Celtic Tiger.”
As the economy grew, house construction boomed, bringing with it an overheated property market. Banks responded with easy mortgages. Personal debt ballooned. Now that finance has dried up, the construction sector has atrophied, and jobs are starting to be lost across the economy.
“The official forecast is for a 6 percent decline in growth,” says Anton Murphy, economist at Dublin’s Trinity College. “I think it will be bigger than that.”
As the people of Iceland have already discovered, the winds of recession blow hardest in countries with small populations and narrow economic bases.
Professor Murphy, who thinks the economy will eventually recover, blames the problem on exuberance in the property market: “Standards of living went up in the 1990s and people felt that the way to become really wealthy was to start exchanging property. There was a time when up to 75 percent of bank lending was in property.”
The political fallout from the country’s decline looks to be severe. Fianna Fáil, Ireland’s largest party, has seen a massive decline in popularity since the onset of the recession. The party had been credited with Ireland’s economic growth – it is now being blamed for the fall and has plunged to third place in the polls.
“Fianna Fáil has destroyed the Irish economy,” says Tony Doody, a small-business owner and landlord in Dublin. “The world economy can’t be ignored, but they could have stopped the Irish economy from heating up.”
Outrage over the government’s handling of the crisis is growing, and protests are becoming more common. Last week, Dublin streets turned blue as an estimated 1,000 police officers – officially banned from striking – rallied to express their anger at the country’s economic policies and a sharp fall in the standard of living.
Public employees, including police, teachers, and nurses, complain that they are being asked to take a drop in living standards they can ill afford. Police officers starting their careers could lose $100 of pay each week because of the pension levy, according to a spokesperson for Ireland’s policing union. “It’s asking lower-paid workers to pay a disproportionate cost.”
It’s not just the police who are restless. The march follows a demonstration several days earlier of more than 120,000 public-and private-sector workers who demanded an end to austerity measures.
A massive public transport strike was recently called off just before a major rugby game was scheduled with England, but other major public-and private-sector unions are set to vote on possible strikes in coming days and weeks.
Leftist parties gain wide support
The financial sector, meanwhile, lurches from scandal to scandal. The government promised to guarantee all deposits in Irish banks, but public confidence did not return. Anglo Irish Bank, a key player during the Celtic Tiger years, was recently taken into government ownership amid an €87 million loans debacle.
Ireland’s two largest financial institutions, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, have been recapitalized with €7 billion, angering many, who object to being told to tighten their belts while public money is poured into banks.
Speaking to the senate last week, Independent Sen. Shane Ross said that the country stands at a precipice: “Nobody should be in any doubt that billions of euro left this country for overseas destinations last week. Presumably billions of euro are still leaving as panic is beginning to occur in the money and currency markets.”
The crisis is pointing to a realignment of Irish politics. While some countries, notably Britain, are concerned about a shift to the hard right, Ireland seems to be experiencing the opposite: Ireland’s Labor Party has experienced a rise in popularity, with the latest polls showing a record rise to 24 percent support.
Sinn Féin, the socialist-leaning republican party with links to the now disarmed IRA, is also expecting to capitalize on the discontent: “The recession in Ireland has highlighted the folly of the right-wing policies implemented by successive Fianna Fáil governments,” says Irish Parliament member Arthur Morgan, who is also Sinn Féin’s finance spokesman.
Speaking at the party’s annual conference on Saturday, leader Gerry Adams called for Irish politics to realign leftward to defeat what he described as the corruption of Fianna Fáil.
Ruling party clings to power
The turmoil is not going unnoticed in government circles. Speaking on Irish radio last week, Green Party leader and environment minister John Gormley said he would not rule out the crisis measure of an all-party government of national unity, but he added that he thought the move would be unlikely at this stage.
An emergency budget accompanied by a call to patriotism and “national duty,” rushed through by the government in October 2008, was met with fury. Austerity measures, such as cuts to Ireland’s multiyear project to improve its aging infrastructure, and the removal of the right to free medical care for all citizens over age 75, were met with public outcry.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0303/breaking15.htm
Tue, Mar 03, 2009
Police are investigating a possible sectarian link to an attack by a gang of men on a house in south Belfast last night.
The gang smashed two windows and damaged the front door of the house on Rockland Street during the incident, which took place at around 7pm.
A car parked outside the house was also extensively damaged.
The occupants of the house, a woman (21) and a man (23), were uninjured during the incident.
A PSNI spokeswoman said a sectarian motive for the attack was one avenue being investigated.
Police have appealed for witnesses.
The PSNI is also investigating a fire at an unoccupied house in Ebor Street in south Belfast, which is being treated as suspicious.
A man (40) has been arrested in connection with yesterday morning’s blaze, which caused extensive damage.
© 2009 irishtimes.com
http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=90224
02 March 2009
Accident and emergency services at a regional hospital have today been axed.
Tyrone County Hospital patients requiring acute in-patient care, such as those who have suffered a heart attack, area will now have to travel to either Enniskillen or Londonderry.
However, the move - which triggered strong opposition and a candle-lit vigil outside the Omagh hospital on Sunday evening - was today said to be in the best interests of local health provision.
The Western Health Trust Deputy Chief Executive, Joe Lusby said on BBC Radio Ulster this morning: "The delivery of health and social care has changed dramatically for the benefit of patients over the last 10 to 15 years and the model of care that we are now proposing to provide will be much better than could be provided up to now."
The initiative follows the closing down of the facility's busy accident and emergency department in 2007.
The Sinn Féin Chairperson of Omagh District Council, Cllr Marty McColgan said there was great sadness at the vigil held in Omagh last night.
"The sense of sadness at this event was matched by a sense of anger about the Western Trust's handling of the situation.
"Previous commitments given that a level of acute service provision would be maintained at Tyrone County until the new A&E hospital at Enniskillen become operational have fallen by the wayside and the general feeling is that the Trust were not pro-active in ensuring that this commitment was fulfilled," he said.
"Given the long distances that acutely ill-patients in the catchments area of Tyrone County are be now expected to travel it is incumbent upon the Trust to ensure that additional emergency ambulance cover is provided in this area."
(BMcC/JM)
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0302/breaking55.htm
STEVEN CARROLL
Mon, Mar 02, 2009
Joe Bruton was described as a leader, an innovator and a farmer who only reaped a fraction of what he had sown during his funeral mass in Dunboyne, Co Meath this morning.
Hundreds of political figures, farm leaders, neighbours and friends gathered to remember the prominent farmer who died on Friday aged 99.
In his homily, Msgr Dermot Farrell said Mr Bruton was a “gentle, gracious, humble, mild and loving father”. He also paid tribute to his work in the farming community, locality, politics and as a journalist.
“It was Joe Bruton's leadership qualities, his vision of what can be,his insight, conciliating influence that allowed him to speak with authority for them in very difficult and turbulent times.”
Mr Bruton is survived by his son John, the former Fine Gael leader and now EU ambassador to the US; Richard, deputy leader of Fine Gael; and Mary, who runs a Montessori school in Dublin. His wife Doris died three years ago.
Mr Bruton was prominent in the farmers’ movement in the 1960s and was chairman of the IFA livestock committee in the early 1970s.
Among the mourners present was former taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s aide-de-camp Commdt Michael Tracey and Minister of State Mary Wallace.
Among the dozens of Fine Gael TDs were Damien English, Simon Coveney, Paul Kehoe, John Deasy, Dan Neville and Billy Timmins. Also present were Ictu general secretary David Begg and IFA president Padraig Walshe.
Mr Bruton was later laid to rest at Rooske Cemetery in Dunboyne on what would have been his 100th birthday.
© 2009 irishtimes.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7917738.stm
Fifa president Sepp Blatter is reported to have sided with the Republic of Ireland in the player eligibility row with Northern Ireland.
The Irish FA thought they had secured a ruling preventing players from Northern Ireland opting for the Republic.
But Blatter has said that if a player from the north had an Irish passport he could choose to play for the Republic.
The Irish FA, the governing body in Northern Ireland, said it would be seeking clarification from Fifa.
They felt Fifa had ruled that to qualify to play for a country a player had to be born there, have a parent or grandparent born there, or have lived there continuously for two years.
But Blatter told the Sunday Life newspaper: "As the Fifa legal committee understood the issue, the situation in Northern Ireland is such that all Northern Irish players could opt to play for both Association teams, given that they have a birthright to an Irish passport.
"Ireland is an exceptional case because of the political situation."
The Fifa chief was in Northern Ireland for the International FA Board meeting being held in Newcastle, County Down.
A definite verdict on the thorny issue is expected to be taken by Fifa's executive committee on 20 March.
If Blatter's view is confirmed it will be a blow to the to the Irish FA.
They invest heavily in grassroots development and are worried that the Republic could cherry pick some of the best emerging players.
Gary McAllister, Chairman of the Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters' Clubs told the BBC that players born within Northern Ireland should play for the country of their birth.
"My concern would be that this would give the FAI an unfair advantage over every other team in international football as they would be the only nation who could pick players from another jurisdiction.
"I don't want to see a situation where a Northern Ireland team is representative of only one section of the community.
"I want a Northern Ireland team made up of the best players players from both sections of the community."
Former Lord Mayor of Belfast Jim Rodgers said that any ruling allowing players born in Northern Ireland to play for the Republic would be "grossly unfair".
"Politics should never be brought into sport and if Mr Blatter's sentiments are expressed in the ruling, that would put Northern Ireland at a strong disadvantage.
"The ruling would only work one way and would not allow players born in the Republic to play for Northern Ireland."
North Antrim Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay disagreed, saying that "many tens of thousands of people in the North support the southern-based team".
"It is the birthright of anyone who has an Irish passport to play for an Irish team.
"If a player does not want to play for a team, they should be able to play for the team for which they have an allegiance.
"It is about freedom of choice and politicians should not force players to play for teams against their will.
"I adhere to the Irish soccer team based in Dublin but would not force that allegiance on anyone else."
Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7917738.stm
Published: 2009/03/02 11:45:02 GMT
© BBC MMIX
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Irish-American-Heritiage-Month-2009/
Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 9:41 pm
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_____________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release March 2, 2009
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION
Even before the birth of our Nation, the sons and daughters of Erin departed their homes in search of liberty and a more hopeful future. As these early pioneers left familiar lands, they carried with them the rich traditions of home. This March we honor their journey and their lasting contributions to the history and culture of the United States.
Following the colonial migrations, the United States enjoyed the greatest influx of Irish during the 1840s as Ireland suffered the Great Famine. Hungry but hopeful, poor but perseverant, Irish-Americans seized the opportunity to work hard, enjoy success, and pursue the American Dream.
Many took on the difficult work of constructing America's infrastructure. Others assumed positions of leadership. Among those leaders were signers of the Declaration of Independence and Presidents of the United States. Still others enjoyed great success and influence in the arts and literature. From social activists to business leaders, athletes to clergy, and first responders to soldiers, distinguished Irish-Americans have made indelible contributions to our national identity.
Today, tens of millions of Irish-Americans can look back with pride on the legacy of their forebears. Irish-Americans are integral to the rich fabric of the United States, and we are grateful for their service and contributions.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2009 as Irish-American Heritage Month. I encourage all Americans to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA
# # #
Updated: 8/26/2009
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