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http://www.sbpost.ie/commentandanalysis/if-libya-pays-out-then-why-shouldnt-the-british-45329.html
01 November 2009 By Tom McGurk
Well-informed sources in the North were suggesting last week that a large compensation package from Libya for the victims of the troubles may soon become available.
While the exact nature of the package and who precisely its recipients will be remain to be agreed (presumably, in the first place with the Libyans themselves), the size of the award could well be in the region of half a billion sterling.
The Libyan government has long admitted that it supplied the Provisional IRA with large numbers of small arms and some heavy munitions at various times during the Troubles - particularly the material that utterly revolutionised the IRA’s bombing capacity, the Czech explosive Semtex.
This Libyan decision is in keeping with Colonel Gaddafi’s new policy of détente with the west, following his long years of political and economic isolation.
The story has complex roots. The 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco, which resulted in the deaths of American servicemen, was seen by the Reagan administration as a Libyan act, and American aircraft based in Britain subsequently bombed Tripoli in revenge.
Among the many civilian victims was one of Gaddafi’s own adopted children.
The colonel’s revenge was to increase his military support for the IRA - he had assisted them on previous occasions - and hundreds of tons of hardware were smuggled into Ireland.
However, since 1999, Libya has made dramatic changes to its foreign policy, beginning with handing over the suspect for the Lockerbie bombing. Within a short time, it discontinued its nuclear programme. It paid three billion dollars in compensation to the Lockerbie victims and last year saw the reopening of full diplomatic relations with the US.
It is in this context that the Libyan compensation package for the victims of the Troubles will come but, as with everything else in the North, it may not be as simple as that. Already the arguments have broken out as to what constitutes a victim, and there have even been attempts to establish a hierarchy of victims.
The DUP and, in particular, a Protestant-only victims group led by Willie Frazer, have insisted that only those killed by republican paramilitary activities can be classed as victims. This is a concept the Libyans themselves are already believed to have rejected.
The problem with the definition of victims is that the war in the North was multi-faceted. There were not only victims of the republicans, the loyalists and the British crown forces (army and police),but there is also the complicated area of state involvement in collusion and the whole area of the secret war.
For example, were republicans, killed as a result of IRA punishment squads being infiltrated by British Intelligence, victims of the IRA or victims of the state? And what about the many victims of loyalist killers, given the allegation that the loyalist death squads were infiltrated and run by British Intelligence operatives? So who was ultimately responsible for these deaths?
In the years since the Troubles ended, various victims’ pressure groups have been seeking to establish how their loved ones were killed and, in some cases, to seek compensation.
Although it may not have been recognised at the time, the legal action taken by the relatives of the Omagh bombings against those they believed guilty may yet be responsible for opening up a whole new legal if not diplomatic avenue. It was the first class action of its kind upheld by the courts, it took evidence north and south of the border, and in the end it proved successful.
As a legal precedent, it is now being considered by lawyers for some of the victims’ groups. Interestingly, relatives of the victims of those killed by UDA operative and informer Brian Nelson believe they may be in a position to launch a significant legal claim against the British government.
As was subsequently accepted at his trial, Nelson was run by British intelligence within the UDA. On their behalf, he imported a large consignment of weapons from South Africa which were eventually involved in the killing of large numbers of people, particularly in a bloody series of sectarian killings in north Belfast. Nelson’s controller gave evidence at the trial.
The many relatives of Nelson’s victims are now inquiring if they too can take a class action against the British government. Some are also asking why, if the Libyan government is now prepared to pay a huge sum in compensation (given that it was the military architect of illegal action), why should the British government not also pay compensation for its part in the killing of their relatives?
Perhaps the most significant move of all remains to be initiated, and that is the question of the victims - and relatives of the victims - of the troubles in this state. While there has yet been no talk about the Libyan discussion of any victims outside Britain and the North, the case of the Monaghan and Dublin bombings must come to mind.
Already, extensive legal investigation has been undertaken by the Barron report and the McEntee inquiry, and there are few today who do not accept that these acts were sanctioned by British Intelligence. If this is the case, have not the victims the same moral claim for compensation as those now looking towards Tripoli?
So is there not a basis for initiating a class action in the Republic’s courts along the lines of that undertaken by the Omagh victims?
The Dublin/Monaghan bombings devastated families who were subsequently - and shamefully - abandoned by their own government.
In particular, the inaction of the authorities under the 1974 coalition government was appalling; even a cursory examination of the files of that time reveals as disgraceful a security and political performance as one could imagine. Abandoned by their own, and all but forgotten in the tide of victims from the North, they now deserve the most determined action by the government.
It’s quite simple. If Libya is facing up internationally to its responsibilities, is it not also time that Britain does as well?
If the Libyan money were to be paid out without any significant recognition or change in the status of the victims of the Northern troubles in the Republic, it would be yet another act of betrayal by an Irish government.
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Robinson-blasts-SF-snoops.5783606.jp
Published Date: 31 October 2009
DUP leader Peter Robinson has accused Sinn Fein of "snooping" on his private correspondence – after republicans leaked details of a deal for former police part-time reservists.
The First Minister made the charge after Sinn Fein junior minister Gerry Kelly revealed the contents of a letter sent to Mr Robinson by the Prime Minister regarding a £20 million payment to former members of the RUC and PSNI part-time reserve.
The News Letter exclusively revealed the existence of a deal between the Prime Minister and Mr Robinson more than a week ago.
Mr Brown's letter was inadvertently sent to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, instead of privately to Mr Robinson, meaning that Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness also received a copy.
Sinn Fein then used the letter to accuse the Government of seeking to buy off the DUP on the devolution of policing and justice.
The war of words sent relations between the parties to a new low in the bitter wrangle over policing and justice.
Mr Robinson said: "I have received a letter from the Prime Minister relating to a gratuity payment for those who served in the part-time reserve.
"I had decided, as a matter of courtesy, not to publish the content of this letter until I had met with the RUC GC Association which represents part-time reservists and discussed the proposal with them.
"For clarity, it should be known that the Prime Minister's office sent the letter to OFMDFM not knowing that Sinn Fein would be snooping on my correspondence."
Mr Kelly said his party had also received the letter and believed it was part of a side-deal on policing and justice.
"When Gordon Brown raised this issue with ourselves, Martin McGuinness told him that such a payment was wrong and unacceptable and was no part of the process to transfer powers on policing and justice."
Mr Robinson defended his communication with Mr Brown and said the former police reservists deserved the payment.
He said he would be continuing to push for them to receive the gratuity.
UUP leader Sir Reg Empey accused both the DUP and Sinn Fein of using "cynical choreography" to try and manipulate the devolution of policing and justice for their own ends.
He maintained both parties were aware that each knew of the existence of the letter from Gordon Brown some time ago.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/01/sinn-fein-fears-hughes-book
Senior members of the republican movement have visited the family of Brendan Hughes to discover details of a book that the IRA commander wanted released after his death.
Hughes, who died in February 2008, left a series of interviews that were to form the basis of the book about his life in the IRA. Republican sources told the Observer this weekend that Hughes' story includes new details on the kidnapping, murder and disappearance of Belfast woman Jean McConville in 1972. The mother torn from her children in Divis Flats, Belfast, by an IRA squad became the most famous of "The Disappeared" – the dozen or so people abducted and killed in secret by the Provisionals during the Troubles.
The Observer has learned that Hughes testimony directly links a senior Sinn Féin figure to the IRA squad and to Jean McConville's death.
The former Belfast IRA commander handed the interviews to Boston University on the understanding they could not be made public until he died. It is understood at least 20 other former IRA veterans have also left interviews in a Boston University archive, which will be published after their deaths.
"The family received a visit a couple of weeks ago by top Sinn Féin figures who are panicking about Brendan's book," one former IRA prisoner told the Observer. "The problem for the leadership was that Brendan's family did not know anything about the interviews, or what exactly is in the book. They didn't know any details, but it shows you how worried the leadership is. In his own words Brendan directly links a top Sinn Féin leader to Jean McConville and the Disappeared." He claimed that Hughes would also reveal the identity of yet another additional victim who was "disappeared" during the Troubles.
The beyond-the-grave memoir will be one of the most awaited books on republicanism in the Troubles. During the early 1970s, Hughes led one of the IRA's elite units, which at one stage managed to bug the internal communications of the British army headquarters in Northern Ireland. Nicknamed "The Dark", Hughes was finally arrested in a middle-class suburb of south Belfast, posing as a toy salesman.
In 1980 Hughes led the first hunger strike in the Maze by republican prisoners demanding political status. Before his death he said that if he had known the outcome of the "struggle" would be power sharing, he would never have signed up to the "war".
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/39096
A LANDMARK event, marking the first time the Policing Board have provided a forum in Belfast for Irish-speakers, was held in the Hilton Hotel in Belfast city centre last Wednesday week, 21 October.
The event was the second in a series of four Policing Board meetings aimed at the Irish-speaking community in the Six Counties.
Sinn Féin members of the Policing Board had previously stressed the importance of the PSNI providing services for Irish-speakers and accepting the need to engage with the substantial Irish-speaking community, particularly in West Belfast.
On the evening, presentations were made totally in the Irish language by Policing Board Chairperson Barry Gilligan; Policing Board member and former Sinn Féin Mayor of Derry Gearóid Ó hEara; West Belfast DPP member and ex-POW Rosie McCorley; PSNI Inspector Gabriel Moran and PSNI Education Adviser Dympna Thornton.
The presentations were followed by a question and answer session chaired by well-known west Belfast Gaeilgeoir and Irish-language activist Fergus O’Hare.
CRITICISM
A wide range of questions and comments then followed.
East Belfast Sinn Féin representative Niall Ó Donnghaile heavily criticised the PSNI’s use of plastic bullets in the summer period, pointing out the lethal nature of these weapons and the many deaths that have occurred from their use.
North Belfast republican Seán Maguidhir questioned the PSNI on the free role that police agents such as Mark Haddock had to murder innocent Catholics with the full knowledge of members of the RUC.
West Belfast Gaeilgeoir Grainne Holland raised the vital issue of anti-community criminals being released after only short periods in custody and emphasised the importance of the transfer of policing and justice powers to local institutions.
The PSNI’s use of stop-and-search tactics during their recent ‘Operation Descent’ was raised and West Belfast DPP member Rosie McCorley said:
“The recent PSNI stop-and-search operation was criticised by speakers tonight as being unwarranted and unnecessary, and the point was made strongly that PSNI efforts to build relationships with our community are undermined by this type of policing which belongs in the past.”
TRANSLATION
Belfast Media Group Director Mairtín Ó Muilleoir, Eoghan O’Neill from Raidio Fáilte, teachers and other Irish-language activists and speakers from throughout Belfast also took part in the open session.
The issue of translation facilities for Irish-speakers when dealing with the PSNI was raised along with the importance of teaching more PSNI officers Irish, recruiting more Irish-speakers, interacting in a positive way with young Irish-speakers and continuing to move towards equality for the Irish language within the PSNI.
Andersonstown Sinn Féin Councillor Caoimhín Mac Giolla Mhín, who was present at the meeting in the Hilton, said:
“Many important points were made tonight in this meeting which was conducted totally in our national language.
“The battle for equality for the Irish language has been fought for a long time but we still have a long way to go.
“This meeting is a start and we must keep pressing for our rights and for Acht na Gaeilge.
“The news that the Belfast Principal District Policing Partnership agreed, at a meeting on Tuesday 20 October, to adopt the language policy of Belfast City Council is also a welcome step forward but our primary goal for our language remains full equality.’’
http://www.emigrant.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74637&Itemid=168
Donegal County Council has asked us to inform the owners of residences in Co. Donegal that are not their sole or main residence that they are liable for a €200 charge - the same is true throughout the country. Owners are liable, irrespective of the country of their domicile and ordinary residence.
The due date for payment was September 30, with a one-month grace to October 31, before penalties at the rate of €20 per month per residence begin to accrue. If you do own such a property you should visit the website at www.nppr.ie or www.donegalcoco.ie for further information or alternatively you can contact Donegal County Council directly on +353-74-91 72222.
Payment can be made on-line at www.nppr.ie and this is the easiest and preferred payment option.
Updated: 11/5/2009
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