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Irish Republican Information Service

In this issue:
1. Tribute paid to Wolfe Tone at Bodenstown
3. RSF condemn Brit enlistment in 26 Counties
4. British police attacked in Fermanagh
5. Listowel Republicans remove Union Jack
6. Six war protesters acquitted
7. Bush in Belfast
8. British army gun used in 1973 UVF killing of Belfast teenager
9. Six-County Parades Commission to rule on city march as negotiations fail
10. Hamill family in tribunal call
11. Civil service 'Irish bias' claim
12. Shell to Sea court cases
13. Strathaven martyr remembered

1. TRIBUTE PAID TO WOLFE TONE AT BODENSTOWN

THE Republican Sinn Féin annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration was held in Bodenstown, Co Kildare on June 14. Republicans travelled from all over Ireland as well as from England to pay their respects to “the father of Republicanism” Wolfe Tone.

The parade assembled in Sallins Village behind a colour party from Munster, Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna Éireann and to the rousing marching tunes of the Raheen Pipe Band from Roscommon marched to the graveyard. Many banners were carried denoting the many areas represented.

At the graveside, the Chief Marshal Seosaimh Ó Maoleoin, Iar Mhí, brought the parade to attention for the playing of the Last Post and Reveille and the dipping of the flags. A wreath was laid on behalf of the Republican Movement by Kitty Hawkins, a lifelong Republican from Kildare.

Peig Galligan, Dublin, of the National Graves Association, gave an account of Bloody
Sunday in Dublin in November 1920.

Ruairí White chaired the proceedings. He welcomed everyone to Bodenstown and congratulated the people in the 26 Counties who rejected the EU/Lisbon Treaty.

Dan Hoban, Mayo, gave the main oration. He traced the history of the Republican Movement from the time of Wolfe Tone to the present day.

He ended his stirring oration by calling on the youth of Ireland to join the Republican Movement and play a part in achieving the All-Ireland Republic for which so much has been sacrificed down the years.

The parade marched back to Sallins where Seosaimh Ó Maoileoin dismissed the parade with the singing of Amhrán na bhFiann.

3. RSF CONDEMN BRIT ENLISTMENT IN 26 COUNTIES

REPORTS that enlistment to the British army has doubled within the 26-Counties have been condemned by Republican Sinn Féin. A spokesperson for the organisation added that it was hypocritical for the Provisionals to oppose Irish enlistment in one arm of the British Crown Forces whilst openly calling for enlistment in another.

Director of Publicity, Richard Walsh, said: “Those who seek enlistment in the British Crown Forces are Quislings who repudiate the right of the Irish people to govern themselves. It can only be described as an act of treachery.

“However, it is ironic for a Provo spokesperson to claim that he could see no reason why any Irish person would wish to join the British army, and subsequently condemn their record in Ireland, given their nauseating demands for support for another section of the British Crown Forces, namely the RUC.”

He added that they should stay away from the grave of the Father of Irish Republicanism, Theobald Wolfe Tone:

“These people have no right to assemble at the grave of Wolfe Tone next week. As Pádraig Pearse once said, ‘If I do not hold the faith of Tone, and if Tone was not a heretic then I am. If Tone said “break the connection with England”, and if I am saying “maintain the connection with England”, I may be preaching a saner, as I am certainly preaching a safer gospel than his, but I am obviously not preaching the same gospel’,” Richard Walsh said

4. BRITISH POLICE ATTACKED IN FERMANAGH

ON June 17 it was reported in the media that the Continuity IRA had claimed responsibility for an attack on the British colonial police, the RUC/PSNI on the Rellan Road near Roslea, Co Fermanagh on June 14.

Two RUC/PSNI members were said to have been lured to a landmine on a border road in Co Fermanagh by smashing the windows of a house. They were treated for shock when part of the bomb detonated as they responded to a call. The landmine failed to fully detonate but the RUC members were hurt after part of the device exploded.

It was said to have consisted of a “substantial amount of home-made explosives” and was placed underneath a bridge with a command wire leading to a firing point some distance away. British army bomb disposal experts dealt with the device and the road remained closed yesterday.

In November 2006 a bomb was discovered on the Clogh Road following reports that a landmine had been abandoned in the area. Earlier this month there was a hoax bomb alert at the main Newtownbutler to Lisnaskea road but nothing was discovered.

Separately, a meeting on the future of RUC/PSNI barracks was delayed for a time after a hoax bomb alert in a community centre in the village.

5. LISTOWEL REPUBLICANS REMOVE UNION JACK

RECENTLY Listowel Republican Sinn Féin removed a British Union Jack flying on a high flagpole outside the Kerry Group factory in the town. The flag was spotted and quickly taken down and burnt. Kerry Group put up a replacement the following day, which was also taken down and destroyed. No Union Jack has appeared there since Listowel RSF will continue to fight all such attempts of normalisation of British rule and urge all other Republicans to do the same wherever they see it.

6. SIX WAR PROTESTERS ACQUITTED

SIX anti-war protesters in the Six Occupied Counties accused of destroying property belonging to US Defence Company Raytheon were acquitted on June 11.

A jury of six men and four women sitting at Belfast Crown Court reached a unanimous decision. The six, who included 65-year-old journalist and author Éamonn McCann, were each accused of criminal damage. Éamonn McCann, of Westland Avenue, was convicted of stealing two computer discs belonging to the company. The judge imposed a 12-month conditional discharge.

Speaking outside the court, Éamonn McCann said the men welcomed the jury's decision and said it had “completely vindicated” their actions.

The men took part in a protest at Raytheon's offices in Derry City in August 2006. Raytheon makes the Patriot, Tomahawk, and Cruise and Sidewinder missiles.

7. BUSH IN BELFAST

ON June 16 US President George W Bush visited the Six Counties as part of the last European tour of his presidency.

Members of the assembly led by Peter Robinson, DUP and Provo Martin McGuinness greeted him at Stormont.

Members of the anti-war movement held a lunchtime 'Bush Not Welcome' rally outside Belfast's City Hall.

A number of speakers rally angrily condemned the President's invite to Stormont.
Derry left-wing activist Éamonn McCann, one of the speakers at yesterday's Belfast protest rally, commented afterwards:

“To say that the position of [Provisional] Sinn Féin is anomalous is to put it very mildly indeed. You cannot at one and the same time have your leader at Stormont welcoming George Bush and then have members of the same party saying he's not welcome.”

8. BRITISH ARMY GUN USED IN 1973 UVF KILLING OF BELFAST TEENAGER

A REPORT on June 18 revealed that the British Historical Inquiries Team (HET) has uncovered a security-force link to the murder of a Co Donegal teenager in Belfast 35 years ago.

The HET had been re-examining the killing of 16-year-old Henry Cunningham, from Carndonagh, Co Donegal during a UVF attack on building-site workers in August 1973.

Its report into the matter says one of two machine guns used in the attack was stolen from a Lurgan UDR base in 1972 and intelligence files point to strong evidence of British Crown Forces collusion in the weapons theft.

Both murder weapons were recovered by the RUC in separate incidents in 1974, but despite being linked to a number of unsolved serious crimes, they were later destroyed by the RUC.

Henry Cunningham was apparently targeted along with his brothers because the UVF thought they were Catholic, but they were in fact Presbyterian. His older brother Herbert, who was driving, was injured, but a third brother, Robert, was unhurt.

No one was charged with the murder, and the family believes the case was never fully investigated.

The HET also said that declassified documents noted that “there were high level concerns regarding RUC elements ‘too close to the UVF’ and ‘too ready to hand over information’, and worries that loyalist extremists had heavily infiltrated the UDR”.

The report concluded that Henry Cunningham, other members of his family and work colleagues, were “specifically targeted as a group by the UVF in a pre-planned attack on 9 August 19732”. It said that it was likely they had been observed following a regular pattern, travelling on the M2 in a van with 26-County registration plates.

9. SIX-COUNTY PARADES COMMISSION TO RULE ON CITY MARCH AS NEGOTIATIONS FAIL

THE Six-County Parades Commission is due to shortly rule on the controversial annual Whiterock Orange march in the absence of any agreement between nationalist residents and the Orange Order.

Up to 1,000 loyalists are expected to take part in the march, which, as in previous years, has applied to pass through the Workman Avenue security gate and make its way along the mainly nationalist stretch of the Springfield Road in west Belfast.

An attempt at mediation between the Springfield Residents Action Group and the North and West Belfast Parades Forum has failed to reach a compromise on the intended route of the parade.

In 2005 the march resulted in some of the worst scenes of public disorder in recent years after Orangemen and their supporters went on the rampage in violent clashes with the RUC/PSNI that spread across the Six Counties.

Representatives of the Orange Order and residents of the Springfield Road were due to hold separate meetings with the commission on June 18 prior to the determination.

Springfield residents spokesman Sean ‘Spike’ Murray said that a compromise put forward by nationalist residents on the proposed route had to date been rejected by the Orange Order.

“What we would say is that following the violence back in 2005 this march should not be permitted to pass through the Workman Avenue gate,” he said.

“The route through the Mackey’s complex has once again been offered as a compromise by nationalist residents.

“There has been one meeting which failed to reach agreement and so we will be meeting with the Parades Commission on Wednesday.”

A determination is expected to be made public on June 20 ahead of the march scheduled to take place on Saturday June 28.

For the last two years the commission determination ruled that 50 members of LOL 9 be permitted to pass through the Workman Avenue security gate

While the rest of the parade and its followers pass through the former Mackey’s complex with the two sections merging on the Springfield Road before resuming along the rest of the proposed route.

In 2007 a standard bearing the picture of Shankill Road killer Noel Kinner was carried in direct breach of the commission determination banning paramilitary displays.

Members of Glasgow flute band Sons of Ulster carried the flag honoring the convicted UVF killer who was convicted of the murder of Andersonstown man Brendan McLaughlin in 1980.

The father of two was gunned down by a loyalist death-squad in the Clonard area of west Belfast close to where the Housing Executive employee’s place of work.

Brendan McLaughlin’s family lodged a complaint with the commission following the breach, which they said was aimed at glorifying the killing close to the spot where the murder had taken place.

10. HAMILL FAMILY IN TRIBUNAL CALL

A JUDGE was urged on June 11 to overturn the British Six-County Secretary of State’s refusal to extend the terms of an inquiry into one of the Six-County’s most controversial murders.

Relatives of Robert Hamill want the tribunal to be able to examine decisions made in the case by the Six-County director of public prosecutions.

The 25-year-old nationalist was beaten to death in Portadown, Co Armagh, in April 1997 with allegations that an RUC patrol was parked just yards from the scene of the attack.

Applying for a judicial review at the High Court in Belfast, lawyers for the Hamill family claimed in reaching his decision Shaun Woodward failed to address public concern that no one has been convicted for the murder.

Liam McCollum QC said: “What can readily be demonstrated is that at best the secretary of state paid lip service to the public interest exercise he was required to carry out.”

The family’s legal challenge came after Woodward concluded in March that based on legal advice; an extension to the inquiry’s terms of reference was not required.

Opening a three-day hearing in front of Mr Justice Weatherup, Liam McCollum argued that this decision focused only on the difficulties to the Six-County DPP’s office from any widened scope.

“The level of public concern might be so great that it wouldn’t matter how much inconvenience there would be to a government body,” the barrister insisted.

“The secretary of state, in our submission, front-loaded his process by looking at what way will this effect the DPP and what will it do to confidence in the administration of justice. The Secretary of State applied the wrong test. On that basis alone we say his decision should be quashed.”

Liam McCollum also claimed the case involved legal points of irrationality and procedural unfairness.

He added: “We make the case that the decision making process was tainted by a perception of bias and therefore unlawful.”

11. CIVIL SERVICE 'IRISH BIAS' CLAIM

THE CHAIRMAN of Irish language broadcaster TG4, has accused senior British Six-County civil servants of bias against the Irish language.

It emerged after the publication of transcripts of an Ofcom conference in Belfast.
“The issue is a bias against the language at very senior levels in both DCAL and the senior civil service,” Peter Quinn said.

The row centres around £12m of funding for Irish language broadcasting granted by the British government under the Stormont Agreement of 1998.

The money runs out in March 2009 and has not been renewed in the Stormont Programme for Government for the next three years.

Peter Quinn said: “The real problem with the funding for the Irish language lies in the senior ranks of the civil service, in the DCAL (Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure) and in the broader civil service.”

Aodán Mac Póilín of Irish language group Ultach said it would be hard to prove such bias. He said how the bid to renew the funding would be pitched would have been up to the DUP Stormont Minister for Culture Arts and Leisure Edwin Poots, subsequently replaced by Gregory Campbell.

He said the decision on whether it would be included in the Stormont ‘Programme for Government’ would have been made by the Minister of Finance, again a DUP member.

“So no matter what the civil servants might have recommended, you would imagine that the DUP, given their track record on their attitude to the Irish language, would have been hostile,” he said.

12. SHELL TO SEA COURT CASES

ON Wednesday, June 11 and Thursday, June 12 the case against four Shell to Sea protestors was heard at Belmullet and Ballycroy District Court. Wednesday was the one year anniversary of the Pollathomais Pier incident, when gardaí forced their way onto the pier through a crowd with the help of a JCB in order to place a security hut, against the wishes of the landowner

The case heard involved Michael Healy, Martin and Pat O’Donnell and Patrick Coyle, who are each charged with obstruction under Section 19.3 of the Public Order Act, and a Section 2 assault from an incident that occurred on the January 19, 2007.

Solicitor for the men, Alan Gannon, sought to have the case dismissed saying that to proceed would be unfair and could lead to a miscarriage of justice. His arguments in seeking the dismissal were: (a) the gardaí in their prosecution never identified his clients as the people involved; (b) the delay in bringing the charges and the suggestion that the gardaí only prosecuted on finding out the proceedings had been started against some of the gardaí involved; (c) no investigation had occurred into how the 7 minutes of missing garda footage had come about; (d) the bringing of 2 sets of charges arising from the same incident and also the choice of charges sought and (e) that so far, the whole process has taken 18 months and the State case leaves a lot to be desired.

Judge Mary Devins stated that the “totality isn’t a pretty picture” and that she was particularly interesting about the choice of charges issue, however the High Court has previously ruled that the State may chose from any of the hierarchy of assault charges. She adjourned the case until the July 23 for mention in order to establish the law regarding points (a) and (d) above. But she refused to throw out the case.

Paul Vella of Evidence Matters Ltd gave evidence for the defence that the videotape containing the garda footage certainly hadn’t been tampered with. He gave his explanation as to why the camera was nor running during the seven minutes of the assaults, i.e. the photo button had been pressed on the video camera. Garda Burke tried to blame the protestors for the missing footage stating that he was “being pushed and shoved and threats made to my camera and me”. He said that when he got back to the station he was ‘embarrassed and angry with himself’ when he found that he had missed the incident. He also stated that he resented the insinuation initially made that he had somehow doctored the videotape which would be a highly criminal act.

Garda Marvin Lee stated that on the morning in question about 80 Shell to Sea protestors had attended the daily picket. He stated that the crowd stopped on the bridge and became hostile. He said that Michael Healy stepped out on to the other side of the road in order to block the oncoming Shell workers. Garda Lee said Michael Healy became abusive and attempted to headbutt him. He stated that Pat O'Donnell grabbed him by the lapel and dragged him into the crowd. He had been hit by a number of people in and around the shoulders. He was retrieved from the crowd by Garda Peter Lee (his father). Garda Marvin Lee said he had received no injuries and was just sore afterwards but had continued on with his duties for the day.

Mr Gannon said that the evidence of his clients would be that Sgt Dermot Butler had pointed out Michael Healy and told the gardaí to ‘take him out of the crowd’. Their evidence would be that Garda M. Lee then grabbed Michael Healy and attempted to pull him to the other side of the road but that Patrick Coyle had held on to Michael Healy. Patrick Coyle was then punched in the face and had retreated into the crowd shouting that garda RG144 (Garda M Lee's former number) had hit him.

Patrick Coyle was followed into the crowd by Garda Peter Lee and that he assaulted Mr Coyle from behind and kicked Mr Coyle when he was on the ground. Pat O'Donnell went to restrain Garda Peter Lee from further injuring Mr Coyle, however Pat O'Donnell was himself then assaulted. Martin O'Donnell came to his brother Pat's assistance and was also assaulted. Garda Marvin Lee denied that any of this occurred.

Garda M Lee stated that he couldn't remember when an investigating officer (of the old Garda Complaints Board) had contacted him regarding the incident but that he hadn't made a statement.

Garda Peter Lee, father of Garda Marvin Lee, stated that he saw Pat O'Donnell holding on to his son, and that he was being punched by other protestors and that it looked to him as if Pat O'Donnell was attempting to throw his son over the barrier. Garda Peter Lee said that he had to use a certain amount of force to retrieve Garda Marvin Lee. He admitted he hadn't seen Michael Healy out on the road or hadn't seen Michael Healy's alleged attempted headbut on his son. Garda P. Lee denied that he had assaulted either Patrick Coyle and Pat O'Donnell.

When the case resumed in Ballycroy court the following morning, Garda Thomas and Garda Regan gave evidence. Garda Regan said that he saw Garda M. Lee being punched in the face and stomach by Michael Healy, Pat & Martin O'Donnell.

Sgt. Michael Kleisham, RG33 (although has been known to change his numbers) also gave evidence and Judge Devins adjourned the case until the 23rd July.

It has to be said that questions need to be asked about aspect of this case, ie three protestors ended up with injuries from the protest that morning. The whole timing of the prosecution is highly suspicious. The incident occurred on the 19th of January 2007. On that day or shortly after, Patrick Coyle made a complaint to Belmullet Garda Station however he never followed up on the complaint. An investigating officer started to make inquiries. The four accused instead started separate proceedings against some of the gardai involved.

Meanwhile cases involving Máire and Seán Harrington were adjourned pending Ms Harrington’s High Court review of Judge Devins’ decision not to allow her access to the stenographer’s notes. It’s worth noting that the stenographer (who is employed by the Court Service) was present at both courts, but is only taking notes at Shell to Sea cases. The stenographer arrived just for the Shell to Sea case in Ballycroy on Thursday and left after it was finished. Meanwhile the case of two men charged with trespass and damage to a fence relating to an incident on Coillte land when RPS were drilling there on the October 26 last, had their cases adjourned until next October.

In other news regarding the Corrib Gas Project, Mayo County Council have hit a bit of trouble with the road they are building for Shell to the proposed landfall site. A lot of the local landowners have refused to allow Mayo County Council access to their land for widening the road.

Over the last few weeks, there have been several submission deadline dates with regard to the new proposed pipeline route planning application. On the June 6, 86 submissions were hand delivered into the Department of Energy, while over 30 were handed it last Friday with others being posted and emailed in. There are 2 submissions deadlines on the 25th June, one on the CAO issue and the other under the Strategic Infrastructure Bill to An Bord Pleanala.

Shell currently has a survey platform on Srawaddacon Bay testing the ground under the bay, and they have drafted in new security. They have taken to filming everyone who goes down on to Glengad beach even if they are nowhere near the proposed landfall area. Complaints have gone into gardai regarding families with small children being filmed and also finding the security lying in the grass spying on beach-goers with binoculars.