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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0411/1224244443376.html
Sat, Apr 11, 2009
Dissident republicans are being blamed for a rise in shootings, writes GERRY MORIARTY , Northern Editor
THE YOUNG man shot and seriously wounded in the paramilitary-style shooting in north Belfast on Thursday night is the fourth victim of such attacks in less than two weeks.
Security, political and local sources say dissident republicans are behind the shootings, and that they are seeking to assume for themselves a brutal community policing role – a function in former years administered by the IRA.
This is another weapon in the dissident republican arsenal that, in addition to inflicting serious injury, is a calculated taunt to Sinn Féin and former local IRA leaders in republican areas.
The PSNI reported two suspected paramilitary shootings on April 1st. In the Poleglass area of west Belfast, a 28-year-old man was shot in both knees and in his left ankle. He was bundled into a car at Twinbrook and driven to the Colin Mill area of Poleglass where the shooting took place.
The same night four masked men entered a house in the Creggan Heights area of Derry city where their victim, a 26-year-old man, was sitting with three women. They escaped but the man received bullet injuries to his left thigh, knee, ankle and right calf.
Two nights prior to that attack, a man was injured in another attack in Derry, in the Rosemount Gardens area. Two masked men entered a house and shot their victim a number of times, causing injuries to his legs.
Local sources said they could not account for why the man was targeted on Thursday. One source said it may have been a paramilitary shooting that “went wrong”. That such attacks should go “wrong” is hardly surprising considering the multiple injuries suffered by the three other most recent victims and the number of shots fired in the attacks.
Police said that since the beginning of the year and in addition to these aforementioned shootings, there were five republican so-called punishment shootings and one so-called punishment beating – again with dissidents the chief suspects.
Sinn Féin and the PSNI are conscious that dissidents are intent on causing trouble on a number of fronts. The Real IRA murders of British soldiers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey, and the Continuity IRA murder of PSNI constable Stephen Carroll, are the most violent manifestations of that tactic.
The dissident bomb hoaxes, hijackings and disturbances, mainly in Belfast and Lurgan, of recent weeks that were in response to arrests related to the killings were another example of the threat from these groups. These incidents prompted a range of nationalist leaders in west Belfast such as Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and MEP Bairbre de Brún, leading republicans such as Danny Morrison and Bobby Storey, and SDLP Assembly member Alex Attwood to publish a letter in Thursday’s Irish News condemning them.
On Thursday, the Belfast High Court heard how dissident republicans issued threats against anti-social elements in west Belfast, some as young as eight, who go under the name the Divis Hoods Liberation Army.
It is all indicative of what the dissidents can do from a limited base. It makes life difficult for PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde and his force, and challenges Sinn Féin and now mainstream, but former IRA leaders, in republican areas.
Such mainstream leaders say that the dissidents, while attempting to arrogate on to themselves a quasi-policing role, are heavily involved in drugs and other forms of criminality and that additionally they are “levying” local drug dealers for part of their takings. But now that Sinn Féin and such republicans are part of the “system”, so to speak, it is difficult for them to resist that challenge in the same local quasi-policing manner that they would have employed in the past.
Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, speaking to The Irish Times on Thursday just hours before the Ardoyne shooting, said these groups must be resisted. “There needs to be a mobilisation of voices within the community, of positive constructive voices who will make it clear that this type of activity is unacceptable and that we are not going back to the past, we are moving forward to a better future.”
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/gang-attack-treated-as-attempted-murder-14266655.html?r=RSS
By Lisa Smyth
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Detectives hunting a masked gang who gunned down a man outside his north Belfast home are treating the attack as attempted murder.
Shocking details have emerged of the moments after the murder bid when his horrified family went to his aid, with the mother of the victim trying to comfort her son as he lay injured.
The victim of the shooting, named locally as David O’Hara, was sitting in his car with two other men at the back of his house in the Ardoyne area, when they were attacked shortly after 9pm on Thursday.
A PSNI spokeswoman said three or four masked men fired shots through the car window. Mr O’Hara sustained gun shot wounds to his leg and abdomen. He remained in hospital last night after undergoing surgery to remove a bullet from his groin.
The parish priest, Fr Gary Donegan, said the family has been devastated by their ordeal: “He is intensive care but he is comfortable although he lost his gall bladder..”
A resident of the quiet street, who did not wish to be named, was at the Mater Hospital on Thursday night when he saw the victim’s father rush into the A&E department.
“His father carried him into the hospital and was running around the place looking for a doctor. He was still conscious.”
A PSNI spokeswoman said she could not comment on whether the attack was sectarian and appealed for witnesses to come forward.
“A motive for the shooting remains under investigation,” she said
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/mpsrsquo-expenses-claim-and-counterclaim-14266671.html?r=RSS
By David Gordon
Saturday, 11 April 2009
So how did they get here? How have clever people who hold senior MP and even Cabinet jobs found themselves taking such a hammering over their expenses claims?
And why have Stormont politicians also been facing flak about their allowances and salaries?
The answers can be found in a series of issues, some of them with Northern Ireland dimensions.
The recent rash of adverse headlines about Westminster expenses has largely concerned one particular area of MP remuneration.
It used to be called the “Additional Costs Allowance”, but now has the even less snappy title of “Personal Additional Accommodation Expenditure”.
Currently worth up to some £24,000 a year, it is designed to cover MPs' costs while staying away from their main homes on parliamentary business.
This can cover mortgage interest payments on a property — leading it to be dubbed the “second homes allowance”.
It can alternatively be used to cover rental or hotel costs.
Claims can also be made for electricity, water and gas bills, furniture, household electrical appliances, telephone and TV services, decoration and repair costs, insurance, cutlery, cleaning and basic security measures.
It was under this allowance that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith claimed for such items as an 88p bathplug, a £2.50 toothbrush, a barbecue and — inadvertently — two pay-per-view porn movies purchased by her husband.
The “Personal Additional Accommodation Expenditure” also provides a flat-rate sum of £25 for any night an MP spends away from his or her main home on Commons business.
Controversies about the allowance include the fact that it is available to MPs from outer London constituencies.
That means an MP can claim for mortgage interest payments for a property in central London, while representing and living in a district within commuting distance of Westminster.
Additional accommodation cost payments have also been made to Sinn Fein MPs for a number of years, despite the fact that they do not take their Commons seats.
The party's five MPs — three of whom are also Stormont Ministers — claimed just over £105,000 between them under the allowance in 2007/08, funding the rental of two London flats.
The Conservative Party has pledged to end the payment of parliamentary expenses to abstentionist MPs.
A separate area of controversy involves MPs being permitted to claim the full London accommodation expenses, while sharing properties.
Sinn Fein's MPs fall into this category, as do husband and wife MPs including the DUP's Peter and Iris Robinson.
Each of the Sinn Fein MPs received fairly close to the maximum in 07/08, with some £21,000 each.
Mr and Mrs Robinson claimed £40,342 between them under the allowance in the same year.
The DUP couple purchased a £450,000 apartment in London's Docklands area in 2001.
Other husband and wife teams in the Commons include government ministers Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper.
In a report last autumn, Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon recommended a cut in the individual allowance for MPs sharing properties.
He stated: “Members sharing properties should have outgoings that are less than double that of a single Member to provide the same standard of accommodation and services.
“What a reduced shared allocation should be is a matter for further examination by others. Nor would I confine this only to Members who are married couples or who are the partner of another Member.
“It seems to me that once Members share properties with each other, even if they do not share other aspects of their lives, they should have a sharers allowance which is less than the sum of the allowances available to each Member singly.”
That proposal is expected to be examined when the “Personal Additional Accommodation Expenditure” comes under scrutiny as part of a wider inquiry into MP remuneration.
It will be conducted by the Committee for Standards on Public Life, which plans to issue its report by the end of the year.
Before then, Parliament should have finally made a long-awaited disclosure of all expenses claimed by MPs in recent years.
It will involve an item-by-item, receipt-by-receipt breakdown with a level of detail similar to the recently leaked material about Jacqui Smith.
The Commons fought hard, but ultimately unsuccessfully, against the release of all this material under freedom of information.
It now appears to be planning to publish it in mid-July — leaving it open to the accusation of “burying bad news” in a quiet news period.
On this side of the water, meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Assembly has separate expenses questions of its own to tackle.
The issue of double jobbing by Stormont politicians has now been pushed well up the political agenda.
The Scottish Parliament has just one member — First Minister Alex Salmond — who is also an MP.
At the Welsh Assembly, there are no such double jobbers.
In stark contrast, 16 of Northern Ireland's 18 MPs are also senior Assembly members.
There are even cases of triple and quadruple jobbing — involving MLA, MP, councillor and Stormont Minister or Assembly committee chair roles.
A decision will have to be taken at some time on recommendations published last December by the London-based Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB).
This officially commissioned report proposed a £3,000 wage rise for Assembly members phased in over a four-year period.
That is highly likely to be |rejected, as MLAs are well aware that it would play very badly with voters.
But the SSRB report also addressed the contentious topic of double jobbing, and recommended a significant expenses cut for Assembly members who are MPs.
They currently receive some £73,000 a year from Stormont for office-running costs, plus more than £100,000 from Westminster for the same purpose.
Critics argue that this gives an unfair advantage to the politicians by bankrolling large-scale staffing and advice centre operations.
Under the SSRB's plans, the |annual Assembly total would be cut from £73,000 to £35,000.
However, it is by no means certain that this will be accepted at Stormont.
Meanwhile, the Assembly also has to face up to other expenses issues raised in the SSRB report.
It remains to be seen whether Stormont will move towards new independent audit oversight measures — like valuation checks on constituency offices being leased at public expense.
Another possible option would involve placing a size limit on the taxpayer-funded MLA offices.
Disparities still remain, meanwhile, between the rules at Stormont and those in force at Westminster.
MPs with family members on their staff teams have to publicly declare the details in the House of Commons register of interests.
There is currently no such requirement for MLAs.
It is also still permissible for Assembly members to rent constituency offices from their relatives.
On another front, the Code of Conduct for Stormont Ministers contains no internal mechanism for assessing complaints about alleged non-compliance.
It appears to some observers that the powers-that-be here are reluctant or unable to seize the initiative on pay and expenses questions.
That same criticism has been directed at the Westminster establishment, amid all the rumpuses there over the past couple of years.
Some of them may be finally “getting it” — at long last understanding the level of anger among voters.
Others are still clinging to the notion that it's all being whipped up by the media.
They have obviously not been paying attention — to the radio phone-ins, to the newspaper letters pages and to opinion poll findings.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0411/1224244447537.html
DEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN, Political Correspondent
Sat, Apr 11, 2009
SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams is to send a report on his Middle East trip this week to US peace envoy George Mitchell.
He plans to send copies of the report to Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, the Israeli government and to Sinn Féin’s contacts internationally.
Speaking by telephone from Jerusalem, Mr Adams expressed shock at the “wholesale destruction” he saw during his visit to the Gaza Strip this week.
He also visited the Israeli town of Sderot whose residents have been the subject of rocket attack from Palestinian militants.
“These are just ordinary working people and we said that to Hamas,” Mr Adams said. However, he added that there was “no proportionality” between Israel’s attack on Gaza and the rockets fired into Sderot.
Mr Adams said he had to walk through the Eretz checkpoint on his way out of Gaza, and that it took 2½ half hours to get through. He also visited a Palestinian refugee camp at Bethlehem, and met Israeli non-governmental organisations in Jerusalem.
On the destruction in Gaza, he said: “You actually have to be there to see how bad it is.”
He also met an official from the Israeli foreign ministry, but no government politicians.
Describing Gaza as “an open-air prison”, the Sinn Féin leader highlighted the poor state of medical facilities in particular.
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/future-of-special-needs-school-hangs-in-balance-14266673.html?r=RSS
By Matthew McCreary
Saturday, 11 April 2009
The leaders of the four main churches in Ireland have met with parents and pupils of an independent special needs school in danger of closure.
The Buddy Bear School in Dungannon, which specialises in conductive education for children with cerebral palsy, is currently facing an uncertain future due to lack of funding.
Catholic Primate Cardinal Sean Brady joined Methodist President the Rev Ian Ferguson, Archbishop Alan Harper, the Church of Ireland Primate, and Presbyterian Moderator the Rev Donald Patton in visiting the school earlier this week.
The school is currently relying on funds form the public to remain open while representations are made to the First and Deputy First Ministers for increased government support.
Chairman of the Buddy Bear Trust Brendan McConville said the support of the church leaders had given hope to campaigners.
“The fact that the church leaders listened to proposals from a deputation from the Buddy Bear Trust, met with the parents and talked to the children and some supporters gave much needed hope to all,” he said.
“The parents have had to cope with all the worries and anxieties of trying to help their child with cerebral palsy and to help raise funds to keep the school open.
“It is a terrible burden for young parents whose lives changed forever when their child was born. The church leaders will do as they think best to help our very special children.
“Their support helped lift their heavy burden if only for a little while as we have to raise funds until OFMDFM helps.”
Donations to help the school can be made to the Buddy Bear Trust at Ulster Bank, Market Square, Dungannon.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/hundreds-out-of-pocket-due-to-post-office-cash-shortage-14266659.html?r=RSS
By Claire McNeilly
Saturday, 11 April 2009
Hundreds of people in Northern Ireland were left out of pocket ahead of Easter after 40 post offices ran out of cash.
Problems arose when the level of benefit and winter fuel payments being claimed in the run up to the Easter break exceeded expectations.
Post Office Ltd yesterday confirmed that 10% of the total network had been affected by a shortage of money on Thursday and apologised for any inconvenience caused to customers.
A woman from Derry — which was worst hit by cash shortages, at four separate branches– told Good Morning Ulster that her local post office had run out of money.
“The guy was able to give me £50,” she said.
“That has to do me now until Tuesday. It’s really really awkward over the Easter period because you’re looking to go out with your family, but if there’s no money there there’s nothing you can really do about it.”
She said she was told the system was put under pressure by the demand for winter fuel payments.
“They said because of the £150 payment that was paid in for the fuel, they didn’t know anything about it and it left them short of money.”
Those most affected by the lack of funds were people on benefits and elderly people relying on winter fuel payments.
Derry postmaster Jim Gough said he paid customers out of his own pocket after post offices across the city ran out of money.
“Some offices I’m told took Monday and Tuesday off and not Friday, but they won’t be able to work tomorrow because they won’t have any money.”
He also said there was a “big problem” getting the money for next week.
“I don’t know what people are going to do unless the Post Office pull their finger out at the beginning of the week,” he said.
A Post Office spokeswoman said that the main post office in Derry will open today to help customers get the money they are owed.
“Post office Ltd can confirm that a number of branches suffered cash shortages yesterday afternoon due to the level of benefit and winter fuel payments being claimed in the run up to the Easter break,” she said.
“The post office on Shipquay Street was meant to be closed but because of the particular problems we had in Derry that branch will be open for customers on Saturday from 9am to 12.30pm.”
A spokesman for the Department of Social Development said they were very concerned for customers.
“Minister Margaret Ritchie is seeking reassurance from the Post Office that they are dealing with the problem and that this will not happen again,” he said.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002325.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Troubles-themed films strike nerve with public
By VARIETY STAFF
When "Five Minutes of Heaven" started shooting in Northern Ireland last year, the filmmakers thought the Troubles were well behind them.
The sectarian conflict that had dogged the region appeared to have finished with the signing of the Bill Clinton-sponsored Good Friday agreement in 1998. But the killings in Northern Ireland a fortnight ago have changed all that.
"Five Minutes," which was made with the support of BBC Northern Ireland and the Irish Film Board, was conceived as a look back at the three decades of violence that tore apart the nationalist and loyalist communities.
Another film about the legacy of the Troubles, "Fifty Dead Men Walking," based on the memoir of informer Martin McGartland, is due to be released in the U.K. in April.The sensitivities that Troubles-related films can arouse are perfectly illustrated by the problems that have dogged both films. McGartland accused the filmmakers of factual inaccuracy by putting him "at the scene of torture and murders."
Nerves were not helped by pro-IRA comments made by thesp Rose McGowan at the film's Toronto premiere. In response, director Kari Skogland said: "Our goal was to present an even, nonjudgmental point of view so the audience could follow the path of an informer with empathy no matter what the politics."
As a result, the film now has a complicated disclaimer, saying it is "inspired by the real life story" of Martin McGartland.
Both films are based on real-life sources. "Five Minutes of Heaven," though scripted as fiction by Guy Hibbert, takes as its starting point the October 1975 murder in Lurgan, Co Armagh, of a 19-year-old Catholic by a 17-year-old member of Protestant paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force.
"Fifty Dead Men Walking" is based on a book by McGartland, a Provisional IRA member who passed information to the U.K. police until he was exposed in 1991.
Both films aim to tackle the moral difficulties of being involved in brutal sectarian violence.
Both films were also part-funded by Northern Ireland Screen, the government agency for developing the film industry in this corner of the U.K. More than most similar orgs, NIS has to walk a tricky political line.
Moyra Lock, head of marketing, puts it plainly: "We are looking for talent; what they choose to write about, we don't mind."
The political calm of recent years also has underpinned another of NIS's core aims: to attract outside filmmakers and develop a sustainable industry in Northern Ireland.
"Let's be honest: because of our recent history, people could be a bit wary of visiting," Lock says. "But that's all changed: lots of people are coming in now. And because the industry here is so young, no one is jaded."
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0411/1224244443575.html
SARAH VELASQUEZ
Sat, Apr 11, 2009
A SPECIAL chapter in the history of Irish dancing was written this week when thousands of Irish dancers from all around the globe descended on Philadelphia to compete in the World Irish Dancing Championships.
This is the first year in its 39-year history that the world championships have been held outside of Ireland or the United Kingdom.
The championships are hosted by An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha, the commission established in the 1920s for the purpose of maintaining traditional Irish dancing. It began in a small theatre in Dublin and grew over time. As more dancers qualified at regional and national competitions, the commission sought larger facilities to host the world championships. Belfast and Glasgow have hosted them in recent years.
Sean McDonagh, chairman for the commission, said the decision to move the competition to Philadelphia was based on the availability of facilities, including accommodation options, but also because Americans make up 75 per cent of competitors registered for this year’s championships.
Selecting the location for the annual event begins with a bidding process. Dance teachers and commission representatives submit the suggested cities, and then a small commission subcommittee votes.
Mr McDonagh said Philadelphia and Boston were top choices for an American venue, and that local commission representatives had been pushing for the event to come to the US for years.
While American dancers and teachers are generally excited to have the competition come to the US, others are not as happy with the momentous move.
“It’s Irish dance. It should stay in Ireland,” says Dearbhla Lennon, a teacher at Scoil Rince Mona Ní Rodaigh in Dundalk, Co Louth. Ms Lennon says moving the championships to the US is “huge”.
“This is the Olympics of what we do,” she says.
Ms Lennon, who has danced in principal roles for both Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, said that her personal opinion does not reflect her view of Americans or the competition so far.
“It’s been amazing,” she says. “But I’ll go wherever. We’ll always travel wherever it is.”
While the location of the competition may change and “trends move with the seasons”, Ms Lennon says Irish dance has stayed “very much the same”.
Mr McDonagh credits the international popularity of shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance with bringing traditional Irish dance to a diverse audience.
Michael Flatley is the primary sponsor for this year’s championships. The first American winner of the event, he paid a visit to Philadelphia on Thursday.
During the championships’ opening ceremony last Sunday, dancers marched across the main stage at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center carrying flags representative of the 32 countries with commission-registered Irish dance schools.
There are Irish dance teachers located as far away as Tokyo and Mexico City, Mr McDonagh said.
“They are of all races and creeds,” he said. “And they’re keeping the flag alive.”
Mr McDonagh said a commission subcommittee has been charged with “overseas development”, an effort to train and prepare individuals to teach traditional Irish dance in countries typically not associated with Irish culture. There is also a group dedicated to expanding Irish dance through Europe.
Commission treasurer Rose Nolan said that moving the event to the US has been both successful and challenging. The organisation had to move all trophies and medals from Ireland, and the commission had to purchase entirely new office equipment in the US.
“Thankfully, everything worked out really well,” Ms Nolan said.
Now that the championships have visited European and American soil, dancers and teachers from other continents might wonder where future venues might be. Fiona-Gaye Moore and Nicole Zepcevski, both former world champions from Australia, said they would love to see the championships move to Australia, but they don’t expect that to happen soon.
“Having it here is an experiment,” Ms Moore said.
In his opening ceremony address, Mr McDonagh stressed the importance of Irish dance as a unifying agent spanning many cultures and continents.
“Whether you are American-born, Australasian, European, Irish or British, all of you have grown up with an awareness of Irishness in us,” he said.
“We gather to celebrate our heritage.”
© 2009 The Irish Times
Updated: 10/4/2009
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