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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/former-irish-bank-boss-in-antiprotestant-tirade-14547966.html
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Former Anglo Irish Bank boss Sean FitzPatrick said "no f***ing Protestant" was going to take over his bank, economist David McWilliams claims in his new book.
In his new book, 'Follow The Money', Mr McWilliams recounts a conversation with Mr FitzPatrick at an event in UCD last November.
The author says at the time, the word was Bank of Ireland or AIB would take over Anglo.
"This was anathema to him. Bank of Ireland was always seen as the Establishment bank, almost the Ascendancy bank. Many described it as a Church of Ireland bank, while AIB was seen as the ultimate bureaucratic bank. He railed against these big banks, claiming that Anglo did things differently," he writes.
Mr McWilliams says the conversation continued up to "a moment of truth".
"Then he came closer, squeezed my arm and practically hissed between clenched teeth: "No f***ing Protestant is coming near us. Those establishment f***ers and Bank of Ireland have been running our country before we came along, and those f***ers are not going to bring me down. None of them are ever going to look down on us again. We are the outsiders, and this is our moment. Those f***ers don't own us any more."
Source Irish Independent
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8339829.stm
Illegal fuel launderers who dumped 20 tonnes of toxic waste on land owned by an education board went undetected for three years, it has been claimed.
Sinn Fein councillor Billy Leonard said 1,000 bags of cat litter, used to filter illegal diesel, were dumped at a maintenance depot in Coleraine.
The land is owned by the North Eastern Education and Library Board which reportedly made the discovery in March.
Mr Leonard criticised the NEELB for taking eight months to tell the public.
Environmental impact
"All this 20 tonnes had to be removed, and I believe it cost somewhere in the region of £30,000 to £50,000, the removal to England, for decontamination," he said.
"And all of that went on in Coleraine since March/April of this year and we weren't informed as public representatives, more importantly, the public in general weren't informed."
The depot on Lodge Road is close to Coleraine High School's playing fields.
Mr Leonard said the hazardous material posed a "grave environmental problem for nearby waterways" and has demanded answers about who knew what and when.
"How much of an investigation did the police and Customs & Excise carry out and if the Education and Library Board wouldn't inform the public, why did these agencies not do so?" he asked.
No statement
A spokesperson for the NEELB said the board would not be making a statement on the matter at this time as there were still discussions which had to take place with other statutory bodies.
However, she said the board had acted within the guidelines in relation to the disposal of the toxic waste.
A police spokesman confirmed they had been informed about the dump in March and said they were investigating.
A statement from HM Revenue and Customs said: "Removal of waste dumped indiscriminately around Northern Ireland is within the remit of local councils.
"HMRC works very closely with the local councils and is notified as and when fuel laundering waste is discovered.
"The council that removed the waste in this instance did notify HMRC."
http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Strabane-man-claims-informer-approach.5790190.jp
Published Date: 03 November 2009
A Strabane republican has claimed the PSNI attempted to recruit him as an informer after he was stopped at a checkpoint in the town last week.
A spokesperson for the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) said the man was given a telephone number to call by the PSNI if he was willing to provide information on republicans.
"This young man was stopped at a checkpoint in Strabane last week and was taken around a corner by the police where he was approached by two other men who asked him to become an informer. They gave him a mobile phone number to ring if he was interested," the 32CSM spokesperson claimed.
This telephone number was given to the 'Journal' and when a reporter dialled the number it was answered by a man calling himself 'Brendan' who asked if the caller remembered him. When the reporter identified himself and asked if 'Brendan' worked for the PSNI, he replied; "I don't know what you're talking about."
The 32CSM spokesperson also claimed the PSNI officers who stopped the man made references to Strabane republican John Brady, who was found dead while in police custody in Derry last month.
"They mentioned John Brady and said he had spent 18 years in jail and then taken his own life and that the same future lay in store for this young man if he involved himself in republicanism," he said. Mr Brady's family have rejected reports that he took his own life.
The spokesperson also called for anyone who may have been approached by the PSNI in similar circumstances to contact them.
"We would appeal to anyone who has been asked to work as an informer to get in touch with us and they will find a sympathetic ear," he said
http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/39My-business-has-stalled-because.5790200.jp
Derry man claims MI5 tried to recruit him
Published Date: 03 November 2009
A Derry man has claimed that his company has been placed in jeopardy by MI5 who offered to make his business happen only if he works with them.
Ciaran Doherty of Northern Lites Limited is currently trying to open premises for a cigarette manufacturing company and claims that four applications to HM Revenue and Customs have been turned down.
He said that on each occasionthey failed to outline any reasons or issue any formal notification of rejection.
Mr. Doherty said he and his business partners have spent £500,000 on purchasing machinery for the plant. It is currently in storage.
He believes the venture could create 350 jobs and £10-£15 million tax revenue annually.
He said that he was returning from a business trip last Tuesday evening when he was approached by MI5 as he attempted to board a flight at Luton airport.
Mr. Doherty said: "I was taken into a side room by a man calling himself 'Justin', who identified himself as MI5. He was able to tell me all about the history of my business and the troubles I've had with securing a licence for premises.
"We have applied on four separate occasions for a licence for premises - twice for Derry, one in Tyrone and one in Newry. Each time we have been rejected without reasons being given. At one meeting the Customs and Revenue representative advised us against even applying to open a site in Derry."
According to Mr Doherty, 'Justin' claimed he was seeking information on a Cypriot business contact Mr Doherty had just met for the first time.
"They told me he was the target of their investigation."
Mr Doherty said his business partner, who's also from Derry, was recently approached at Schipol airport, Amsterdam. He was asked to help security services target dissident republicans in Derry.
"This is placing my entire business in danger," said Mr. Doherty. "The deal we done on Tuesday has probably fallen through as I had to inform the Cypriot in London that MI5 were enquiring about him.
"I have to travel quite a bit sourcing materials - am I going to be stopped every time I do so?
"I am a legitimate businessman. I have notified HM Revenue and Customs every step of the way on this business venture - even Justin admitted that. However if I cannot get approval for premises I cannot trade, it is as simple as that."
When contacted by the Journal a spokesperson for HM Revenue and Customs said: "HMRC have requested further information in writing from (the applicant) in June and August 2009 but to date have received no reply to our request."
Mr. Doherty agreed that this was the case but argued: "We have spoken to Customs about the information they have requested. It concerns accounting systems and they agreed that this would follow at a later stage.
"This has only become an issue now, I think it is their get out clause. To be honest I believe the whole thing is a set-up in order to try and recruit informers," he claimed.
http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=19793
October 28, 2009 To put it mildly, the past few days have been the most anguished of Ronan Tynan's life - at least the singing career part of it.
The Irish tenor, renowned for his stirring performances of "God Bless America" at Yankee Stadium, was benched by the club after the singer was accused of making an anti-Semitic remark, an accusation that he has vehemently denied.
That denial is being taken seriously this week by an organization that knows all about anti-Semitism.
And the Anti-Defamation League has extended the hand of friendship to Tynan who has felt so sick of heart this past week that he was contemplating flying back to Ireland.
The league, according to Tynan, has asked him to sing at its annual dinner this Thursday night at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan.
Tynan has accepted and, as he has done on countless occasions since 9/11, he will be performing gratis.
Whether the league's embrace will pave the way back to Yankee Stadium was unclear at presstime but it was a powerful signal that many in New York and beyond do not believe that Tynan deserves the kind of punishment or opprobrium that has been heaped upon him in recent days.
Tynan, according to multiple news reports, offended an apartment viewer with a reference to "scary" Jewish ladies at the Manhattan building apartment he calls home.
It was reference to two women who had viewed a next door apartment several weeks ago. The realtor had
referred to them as being very particular and Tynan had fretted at the time that he might disturb them because he sang and played music in his apartment.
His reference to the ladies followed a joke by the realtor about the possibility of Red Sox fans moving into the neighboring apartment.
A client of the realtor, like Tynan a doctor, reported the "Jewish" remark to the Yankees.
"There is not an anti-Semitic bone in my body. I wasn't reared like that. I want people to know that I have been overwhelmed by all this," Dubliner Tynan told the Echo.
He said he had made a joking reference to the two ladies but that his accuser had not indicated such a degree of anger on the spot that would have prompted an apology sufficient enough to put the matter to rest.
Tynan said that he had apologized when the offended client had indicated unhappiness with his words.
"I apologized to her, but she said nothing else to me," he said.
He said he was shocked when the matter was subsequently reported to the Yankees.
"I am a religious man. I have prayed over this. I have cried over this. If anyone knows about discrimination I do," said Tynan, who has battled physical disability after losing both his legs as a child.
In addition to his sudden absence from Yankee Stadium, Tynan had to cancel a major appearance in Las Vegas.
He said that he felt that the episode had been blown way out of proportion. He added that, at first, he had felt like he needed to leave New York.
But was now determined to stay in the city he has called home for ten year and clear his name.
Tynan, who has many Jewish friends, also has three Jewish musicians in his band.
Tynan said that he was happy with the opportunity to sing at Thursday night's dinner.
"The truth eventually wins," he said.
http://www.iais.org/
11/03/09 18:45 EST
Unionist politicians clashed over the causes of the Troubles during a debate on a proposed bill of rights for Northern Ireland in the Northern Assembly today.
The loyalist Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) leader Dawn Purvis accused the former unionist establishment of denying that discrimination existed, mostly against Catholics, while Ulster Unionist MLA Basil McCrea said the conflict was caused by republican attempts to achieve a united Ireland.
The two politicians engaged in their historical argument during discussion of an Ulster Unionist Party motion, supported by the DUP, calling on Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward not to proceed with a bill of rights for Northern Ireland.
UUP deputy leader Danny Kennedy said that if Mr Woodward proceeded with the bill of rights as supported by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission it would be to reject the democratically expressed will of the majority in this Assembly.
Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance and Ms Purvis, leader of the PUP, which is linked to the loyalist paramilitary UVF, support the bill of rights proposals.
The DUP and UUP oppose the proposal and have concerns that regardless of their opposition Mr Woodward could enact a bill of rights for the North at Westminster.
The Assembly rejected the UUP motion and supported an amendment by Ms Purvis calling on Mr Woodward to publish a consultation document on the Bill, as a prelude to the introduction of the Bill.
During the debate Ms Purvis raised the issue of how the Troubles started.
She asked, What came first: stinking, polluted politics or bloody awful violence? She accused mainstream unionism of having a particularly blinkered view of the causes of the conflict.
They deny discrimination existed. They deny that all working-class people, but mostly Catholics, endured in slums, squalor, poverty, and unemployment in order to preserve the power of the political elite, she said.
You continue to deny working-class children, Protestants, the right to a decent education by holding on and wanting to hold on to academic selection, added Ms Purvis.
I have to say to you, you have to stop living in denial, you have to start looking at what happened here, what caused the conflict here, because you are doing a great disservice to working-class people, in particular Protestant working-class people, and the most vulnerable in our society, she said.
Lagan Valley MLA Mr McCrea said the issue simply was whether it was right to put the bill of rights proposals out for public consultation when two of the major parties opposed them. Such a move would contradict the cross-community consensus essence of the Belfast Agreement.
He rejected Ms Purviss analysis of how the conflict started. We argue as a party for the social justice that is demanded by all the people of Northern Ireland and we will not be browbeaten by people from whatever side of the house who wish to rewrite history, he said.
Those that argue that the source of our troubles was some form of social, economic problem, those who say it was all about housing, miss the fact that this terrorist activity that we have had over the last 30 to 40 years was not about social deprivation: it was about a political aim for a united Ireland perpetrated through people that believed that violence was the way forward. That is not the way, said Mr McCrea.
http://www.irishnews.com/articles/540/5860/2009/11/2/631525_398823824626OfficialI.html
By Barry McCaffrey
02/11/09
The Official IRA (OIRA) will begin decommissioning its weapons within weeks, a senior source close to the process last night confirmed.
Last month The Irish News revealed that the OIRA had begun talks with General John de Chastelain’s Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).
News of the talks had caused some surprise in political and security circles as the OIRA has been on ceasefire for the last 37 years.
Despite having abandoned its “armed struggle” for more than three decades the OIRA is understood to have retained a significant amount of arms.
When it announced its ceasefire in 1972, it was believed to possess up to 400 rifles, a number of heavy machine guns and dozens of handguns.
The organisation is understood to have been keen to resolve the arms issue before General de Chastelain ends his decommissioning role in February next year.
A source close to the process last night confirmed that OIRA decommissioning was “imminent” and would be “substantive” and “full”.
Veteran OIRA members are said to have been informed that it was about to begin decommissioning its weapons at a private function on October 11.
It is understood that the actual decommissioning process, when it begins, could take a number of weeks but would be fully completed by the end of November.
This summer General de Chastelain announced that the UVF had put all its weapons beyond use and the UDA had committed to destroying its arsenal by February when the government’s deadline for decommissioning ends.
The Provisional IRA completed its decommissioning in 2005.
Last month the INLA announced that it was abandoning its “armed struggle” but refused to confirm that it would decommission.
However, there is speculation that talks have taken place between General de Chastelain and the INLA.
Confirmation that the OIRA was preparing to decommission its guns came as an unexpected surprise as the organisation had never been mentioned in any of the IICD’s previous 19 reports.
The OIRA, or ‘Stickies’ as it was nicknamed, emerged from a split in the IRA in 1971.
The organisation was responsible for 52 killings during the Troubles.
Despite apparently being on ceasefire since 1972 the group has sporadically used weapons during internal republican disputes or for so-called punishment attacks.
It has also been accused of involvement in criminal activity.
In October 2005 former OIRA leader Sean Garland was arrested at a Workers Party conference in Belfast after a request by the FBI that he be extradited to the US to be questioned about a multi-million-dollar international counterfeiting operation.
The IICD has refused to confirm or deny that it is in discussions with the OIRA.
“IICD does not comment on its work,” a spokesman said.
“However, the IICD is open to all organisations on ceasefire until the end of its mandate next February.”
http://www.irishnews.com/articles/540/5860/2009/11/2/631530_398830139901Ministerh.html
By Ashleigh McDonald
02/11/09
THE former president of the Methodist Church has said there is no room for “trivialising” Pope Benedict’s decision to change the rules for Anglicans wanting to join the Catholic Church after a rhyme penned by Ian Paisley was published in a newspaper.
Setting out his thoughts on the issue, the former first minister and sitting north Antrim MP wrote: “Hi Ho. Hi Ho. It’s off to Rome we go, with a communion feast and a married priest, Hi Ho. Hi Ho.”
The Rev Harold Good, a Methodist minister and one of two independent witnesses to oversee the IRA’s decommissioning in 2005, said the issue was “sensitive” for many people and deserved to be treated with understanding and respect.
Pointing out the issue did not affect the Methodist Church, Dr Good said: “I appreciate that there are people who have different views on this very serious matter but I don’t believe it should be trivialised in a little rhyme.
“This is an issue that needs to be treated with understanding and sensitivity as it is something which is important to a great many people.”
Updated: 11/5/2009
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