ARCHIVE 2005 No. 1 |
03/12/05 09:57 EST ORANGE ORDER SEVERS OFFICIAL LINK TO UUP The Orange Order has voted to sever its links with the Ulster Unionist Party. The decision was made during a meeting of the Grand Lodge in East Belfast today. Orange Order Grand Master Robert Saulters, speaking after the meeting, said: "The Loyal Orange Institution will continue to lobby for the unionist cause as events require and we will seek to establish good relationships with all those engaged in the political interests of the unionist people." The decision to pull out of the Ulster Unionist Council effectively ends the Order's 100 years of historical ties with the party. 03/10/05 11:37 EST SINN FEIN LOSES WESTMINSTER ALLOWANCES Sinn Fein MPs are to be stripped of £400,000 in parliamentary allowances following claims that the IRA stole GBP£26m from the Northern Bank in Belfast. It follows the 'Independent' Monitoring Commission's report which recommended imposing financial penalties. The commission, which was set up at the insistence of UUP leader David Trimble, alleged that the IRA had "planned and undertaken" the raid as well as three other major robberies last year. The commission was appointed by the British government. Sinn Fein and the SDLP reject it's legitimacy as it was set up outside the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The motion to suspend allowances for Sinn Fein's four MPs for 12 months was passed without a vote. A cross-party motion to permanently evict the MPs from their Westminster offices was defeated by 358 to 170. The debate was proposed by NI Secretary Paul Murphy after the commission's report on the December robbery. Sinn Fein MPs have never taken their seats at Westminster because doing so would involve swearing an oath of loyalty to the Queen. But they took up the offices at Westminster just over three years ago, and claim allowances to support their constituency work and pay for travel. The four received an average of just under GBP£110,000 each last year. 03/05/05 11:28 EST ADAMS GIVES KEYNOTE ADDRESS TO SINN FEIN AGM Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has vowed that those responsible for the killing of Robert McCartney will be made to "account for their actions". In a keynote address to his party's ardfheis (AGM) in Dublin this evening, Mr Adams described the murder of the Belfast father of two as a "huge issue" for the party and said those responsible should admit to what they did in a court of law. "This is the only decent thing for them to do," he told an audience which included members of the murdered man's family who had accepted an invitation to attend the ardfheis earlier in the day. Mr Adams described the family's call for justice and truth as a "just demand" and pledged his party's support. 03/04/05 12:30 EST McGUINNESS ADDRESSES SINN FEIN AGM Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness called on people involved in the murder of Robert McCartney to make themselves accountable in court. During his opening speach at the Sinn Féin ardfheis (AGM) in the RDS in Dublin this evening Mr McGuinness said he was "outraged and saddened at the involvement of a small number of IRA volunteers" in the murder. "The McCartney family are absolutely right when they say that those responsible should be held accountable for their actions and should make themselves accountable for their actions. I again urge all of those involved in any way to admit their role and to make themselves accountable in court," he said. 03/03/05 16:44 EST SINN FEIN SUSPENDS SEVEN MEMBERS IN BELFAST Seven members of Sinn Féin have been suspended from the party following allegations that they were involved in the murder of Belfast father-of-two Robert McCartney, party President Gerry Adams said tonight. Mr Adams said he was informed the seven were allegedly implicated after he made inquiries about a list of republicans the McCartney family said were involved in the murder of their brother in a bar on January 30th. "As party president, I immediately instructed the leadership of Sinn Féin in Belfast to establish if any of those named by the family were members of Sinn Féin," he said. 02/25/05 19:58 EST IRA EXPELS 3 FOLLOWING ADAMS INTERVENTION The IRA has expelled three members from its ranks over the death last month of a Robert McCartney in Belfast. It comes after an IRA investigation into last month's killing. The IRA said one of those expelled had made a statement to a solicitor and called on the other two to take responsibility for their actions. Robert McCartney, 33, was stabbed in the city center on 30 January. The IRA said two of those dismissed were "high-ranking volunteers". 02/24/05 09:04 EST HR COMMISSION CHIEF BLASTS BRITISH GOV.T Northern Ireland's chief commissioner for Human Rights has launched a scathing attack on the British government for its "major lack of support." Just days before he is due to stand down as chief commissioner Professor Brice Dickson criticised the British Government for not taking the North's human rights issues or the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission seriously. From next Monday Northern Ireland will be left without a human rights chief commissioner when Professor Dickson steps down after six years of service. Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary of State Paul Murphy has yet to appoint a successor even though the post was advertised nine months ago. 02/22/05 12:36 EST SANCTIONS ARE A DISTORTION OF DEMOCRACY - SINN FEIN Sinn Féin has said the sanctions announced today by the British government are a "distortion of democracy" and said the party would fight against it. Speaking in London following the decision of the British government to extend sanctions on the party the South Belfast MLA, Mr Alex Maskey, said the Northern Ireland Secretary had "no right to discriminate against democratically elected Irish politicians". He also questioned the Irish Government's claim that it was opposed to sanctions. "Paul Murphy does not have one vote in Ireland. He has no right to discriminate against democratically elected Irish politicians. These actions are a distortion of democracy. The people of Ireland elect us and we are accountable to them. We reject these anti-democratic actions by a British government against an Irish political party," Mr Maskey said. 02/22/05 09:00 EST BRITISH GOV.T EXTENDS SANCTIONS ON SINN FEIN The British government has extended financial sanctions on Sinn Féin in response to the controversial 'Independent' Monitoring Commission's (IMC) report that blamed the IRA for the Northern Bank robbery. Britain's Northern Secretary Paul Murphy also told Britain's House of Commons there will be a motion proposing the removal of allowances for the party's MPs. The British response was prompted by the IMC report, published on February 10th, which said some Sinn Féin leaders were involved in authorising the £26.5 million sterling robbery in Belfast on December 20th last. 02/21/05 10:40 EST AHERN DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF IRA ARMY COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP The Irish premier, Bertie Ahern, said today he had no "hard evidence" on who sits on the IRA army council despite the claims of his Government colleague, the Minister for Justice, that Sinn Féin leaders are part of the IRA's ruling body. Mr McDowell said today that his and Mr Ahern's comments were consistent. Mr McDowell's remarks yesterday - when he named Mr Gerry Adams, Mr Martin McGuinness and North Kerry TD Mr Martin Ferris as members of the seven-man body - provoked strong denials from Sinn Féin. 02/19/05 11:55 EST NORTHERN BANK LOOT FOUND IN RUC ATHLETIC FACILITY Money discovered in a police sports club in Northern Ireland was stolen in the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery, detectives have confirmed. Police discovered GBP £50,000 in new Northern Bank notes at the Newforge Country Club in Belfast. Five shrink-wrapped packages each containing £10,000 were found in the toilets of the facility. It is the first cash from the robbery to turn up. A police spokeswoman said the notes had consecutive serial numbers and corresponded with the numbers given to the PSNI by the bank. A man rang the Police Ombudsman on Friday claiming to be a PSNI officer and told them where to find the money. The RUC Athletics Association has blamed outsiders for leaving the cash. 02/18/05 12:10 EST SUSPECTED DISSIDENT CHARGED WITH MONEY-LAUNDERING A County Cork chef arrested as part of an Irish police investigation into republican money-laundering has been charged with membership of an illegal organisation at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin. The head of the Garda Special Branch, Detective Chief Superintendent Philip Kelly told the court that gardaí recovered £54,000 sterling in a washing powder box when Mr Don Bullman was arrested with two other men from Northern Ireland in Dublin yesterday. "I suspected that the £54,000 pounds was a money laundering operation on behalf of the IRA," Supt Kelly said. Mr Don Bullman (30), a chef, of Leghanamore, Wilton, Co Cork was charged with membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA on February 16th. He is suspected of being a member of the 'Real IRA'. 02/17/05 10:34 EST SEVEN ARRESTED IN MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION Police in the Irish Republic have arrested seven people and recovered a large amount of cash. Over GBP£2m was seized during raids in the Cork area, more than GBP£60,000 is believed to be in Northern Bank notes. Irish police have not confirmed if the raids are connected to the £26m robbery at the Northern Bank's headquarters in Belfast on 20 December. The IRA has been blamed by the British and Irish governments for stealing the money. The IRA has denied this. 02/11/05 15:26 EST AHERN AND ADAMS CALL FOR CALM FOLLOWING BANK RAID INVECTIVE Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams today called for clear-the-air talks with Irish premier Bertie Ahern to resolve their row over the Northern Bank robbery. While both men today continued to criticise each other from afar, they also sounded a more temperate note. Just hours after the Taoiseach accused Mr Adams of behaving childishly, the West Belfast MP said Mr Ahern "should stop making these malicious and untrue allegations". Mr Adams yesterday challenged Mr Ahern to order his arrest after the Taoiseach had claimed that Sinn Féin's negotiating team during December's peace talks had foreknowledge of the Northern Bank heist. He said the Taoiseach "shut up or put up" after the Independent Monitoring Commission yesterday reported that senior members of Sinn Féin sat on the IRA's army council. Mr Ahern said the challenge was "childish". He claimed Mr Adams could not deny the IRA was involved in criminality and punishment beatings. 02/10/05 09:38 EST IMC REPORT BACKS GOVERNMENTS ON BANK RAID The controversial Independent Monitoring Commission has blamed the IRA for the Northern Bank robbery in Belfast last December in its latest report. The report also says certain unnamed senior Sinn Féin members, who are also IRA members, sanctioned the GBP £26.5 million robbery and a series of other robberies across Northern Ireland. "We believe that the Northern Bank robbery and abductions - and the other robberies and abductions - were carried out with the prior knowledge and authorisation of the leadership of PIRA," the report states. "In our view Sinn Féin must bear its share of responsibility for all of the incidents," the IMC said. Read full text of IMC's fourth report 02/05/05 10:10 EST SINN FEIN'S MESSENGER ROLE ABUSED SAYS ADAMS Sinn Fein's role as messengers for the IRA has been abused by the British and Irish governments, Mr Gerry Adams claimed today. Mr Adams said today that the peace process remained a priority for the republican movement and he demanded a similar commitment from everybody else. Speaking after an AGM of party members in Dublin, Mr Adams said: "The electoral mandate of the Sinn Fein party has been ignored. We remain wedded to our peace strategy." Mr Adams added that the "mishandling" of recent peace efforts has been "extremely damaging to the peace process". 02/04/05 10:16 EST STATE DEP.T SAYS IRA STATEMENT IS UNWELCOME The US government is backing the demands by the Irish and British premiers for an end to all paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland. In a strongly worded statement, a US State Department official described as "unwelcome" the IRA`s decision on Wednesday to withdraw its offer of verifiable disarmament during last year`s talks. "We share the view of the British and Irish Prime Ministers that the continuation of paramilitarism and associated criminality remains the central obstacle to a lasting and durable peace in Northern Ireland," he said. 02/03/05 14:06 EST FURTHER IRA STATEMENT WARNS GOV.T'S OF SITUATION The IRA has issued a new statement this evening warning the Irish and British governments not to "underestimate" the seriousness of the crisis in the peace process. In a short statement, the group said the two governments were "trying to play down our [earlier] statement because they are making a mess of the peace process. Do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation." The statement was issued to RTÉ, Ireland's national broadcaster, by telephone shortly before 6 p.m., local time. 02/03/05 09:53 EST INCLUSIVE TALKS MUST CONTINUE SAYS AHERN The Irish Government said in its first official response to last night's IRA statement that talks must continue between all parties. Speaking in Dundalk today, Mr Ahern tried to play down the significance of the statement. He called for a period of reflection and urged all parties involved to continue in their efforts to resolve the outstanding issues of the Belfast Agreement. 02/02/05 15:50 EST IRA WITHDRAWS OFFER TO COMPLETE DECOMMISSIONING PROCESS The IRA has withdrawn its offer to complete the decommissioning process. In a statement passed to An Phoblacht newspaper, the organisation said it had taken the offer to put its weapons beyond use off the table. Last November, the IRA said it would complete the decommissioning process within weeks and agreed to allow a Protestant and a Catholic churchman to witness any future decommissioning of its weapons as part of proposals to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland. However, the insistence by the Democratic Unionist Party that photographic evidence be also published scuppered the chances of a deal on reviving the powersharing assembly. Today's IRA statement said the British and Irish governments had "tried its patience to the limit". 01/22/05 09:07 EST SINN FEIN TO MEET WITH AHERN NEXT WEEK Sinn Fein are to meet with Irish premier Bertie Ahern next week in a bid to resolve the fallout from the Northern Bank robbery, it emerged today. The party`s justice spokesman, Aengus O Snodaigh, said he was optimistic that the `hurdle` in the peace process could be crossed. "Hopefully, this will stir further progress. At the moment, the worry is that people will disengage until the Westminster elections in May and that talks will be put on hold," he said. Mr Ahern, who is returning from a trade mission to China, has accused Sinn Fein of having prior knowledge of the Northern Bank robbery last month. 01/19/05 09:23 EST IRA STATEMENT DENIES NORTHERN BANK HEIST The Provisional IRA has issued a statement denying any involvement in the robbery of GBP£26.5 million (?37.85) from the Northern Bank in Belfast last month. A two-sentence statement released late last night said, in full: "The IRA has been accused of involvement in the recent Northern Bank robbery. We were not involved." The statement was signed "P O'Neill", the usual signatory of official statements issued by the IRA. 01/13/05 12:29 EST NI OMBUDSMAN TO INVESTIGATE OMAGH BOMBING Part of the Omagh bomb inquiry in Northern Ireland is to be investigated by Northern Ireland police ombudsman Ms Nuala O'Loan, it emerged this evening. Her office is to investigate the circumstances surrounding an anonymous telephone call which warned of an attack to take place in the Tyrone town on the day of the atrocity. The Ombudsman will be seeking details after it emerged that a former RUC Special Branch officer is to be interviewed by detectives attempting to establish the source of the call. It was made to police on August 4th, l998, 11 days before the bombing, but the information was never passed on to officers on the ground. Relatives of some of the 29 people killed, which included a mother pregnant with twins, had urged the Ombudsman to carry out her own investigation into the phone call. 01/08/05 09:34 EST ANGER AMONG REPUBLICANS AT ORDE ALLEGATIONS Sinn Féin national chairman Mr Mitchel McLaughlin said his party remained committed to the Northern Ireland peace process and will not be deflected by allegations that the IRA was responsible for the Belfast bank robbery. Mr McLaughlin said there was deep anger among republicans at politically motivated attempts to criminalise the movement during an emergency meeting of the party's executive in Dublin. 01/07/05 10:35 EST ORDE CLAIMS IRA ARE MAIN SUSPECTS IN BANK RAID Northern Ireland police Chief Constable Hugh Orde has said he believes the IRA was behind the multi-million pound Belfast bank heist last month. Speaking at a press conference in Belfast Mr Orde claimed it now made "operational sense" to attribute blame "and it will allow us to get on with the inquiry". "What I can say is, on the basis of the investigative work we have done to date, the evidence we have collected, the information we have collected, the exhibits we have collected, and bringing it all together and working through it, in my opinion the Provision IRA were responsible for this crime", Mr Orde said. Northern Bank revised upwards from GBP£22 million to GBP£26.5 million, the amount taken in the raid. 01/06/05 09:39 EST ADAMS REJECTS IRA INVOLVEMENT IN BANK HEIST Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said today he believed the IRA when it said it was not involved in the GBP £22 million Northern bank robbery. Earlier the IRA said attempts to link it to criminality would fail. Even though PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde is expected tomorrow to claim the IRA were linked to the raid, Mr Adams insisted: "The IRA has said it was not involved. I believe that to be the case." Mr Orde is due to brief senior members of Northern Ireland's Policing Board in Belfast tomorrow about the December 20th raid - the biggest ever in Ireland or the UK. ARCHIVE
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2 February 2005
IRA withdraws offer to complete decommissioning process Complete Text of Today's IRA Statement "In August 1994, the leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann announced a complete cessation of all military operations. We did so to enhance the democratic peace process and underline our definitive commitment to its success. That cessation ended in February 1996 because the British Government acted in bad faith when the then British Prime Minister John Major and Unionist leaders squandered that unprecedented opportunity to resolve the conflict. However, we remained ready to engage positively and in July 1997 we reinstated the cessation on the same basis as before. Subsequently, we honoured the terms of our cessation with discipline and honesty, despite numerous attempts to misrepresent those terms by others. Since then - over a period of almost eight years - our leadership took a succession of significant and ambitious initiatives designed to develop or save the peace process. Those included:
"In 2004 our leadership was prepared to speedily resolve the issue of arms, by Christmas if possible, and to invite two independent witnesses, from the Protestant and Catholic churches, to testify to this. In the context of a comprehensive agreement we were also prepared to move into a new mode and to instruct our Volunteers that there could be no involvement whatsoever in activities which might endanger that agreement. These significant and substantive initiatives were our contributions to the peace process. Others, however, did not share that agenda. Instead, they demanded the humiliation of the IRA. Our initiatives have been attacked, devalued and dismissed by pro-unionist and anti-republican elements, including the British Government. The Irish Government have lent themselves to this. Commitments have been broken or withdrawn. The progress and change promised on political, social, economic and cultural matters, as well as on demilitarisation, prisoners, equality and policing and justice, has not materialised to the extent required, or promised. British forces, including the PSNI, remain actively engaged in both covert and overt operations, including raids on republicans' homes. We are also acutely aware of the dangerous instability within militant unionism, much of it fostered by British military intelligence agencies. The British/loyalist apparatus for collusion remains intact. The political institutions have been suspended for years now and there is an ongoing political impasse. "At this time it appears that the two governments are intent on changing the basis of the peace process. They claim that 'the obstacle now to a lasting and durable settlement... is the continuing paramilitary and criminal activity of the IRA'. We reject this. It also belies the fact that a possible agreement last December was squandered by both governments pandering to rejectionist unionism instead of upholding their own commitments and honouring their own obligations. "We do not intend to remain quiescent within this unacceptable and unstable situation. It has tried our patience to the limit. Consequently, on reassessment of our position and in response to the governments and others withdrawing their commitments;
"The IRA has demonstrated our commitment to the peace process again and again. We want it to succeed. We have played a key role in achieving the progress achieved so far. We are prepared, as part of a genuine and collective effort, to do so again, if and when the conditions are created for this. But peace cannot be built on ultimatums, false and malicious accusations or bad faith. Progress will not be sustained by the reinstatment of Thatcherite criminalisation strategies, which our ten comrades died defeating on hunger strike in 1981. We will not betray the courage of the hunger strikers either by tolerating criminality within our own ranks or false allegations of criminality against our organisation by petty politicians motivated by selfish interests, instead of the national need for a successful conclusion to the peace process. "Finally, we thank all those who have supported us through decades of struggle. We freely acknowledge our responsibility to enhance genuine efforts to build peace and justice. We reiterate our commitment to achieving Irish independence and our other republican objectives. We are determined that these objectives will be secured." P O'Neill
15 December 2004 Proposals by the British and Irish Governments for a Comprehensive Agreement Full text of agreement TIMETABLE
Tuesday 7 December
Wednesday 8 December
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March
Early Summer
Monday 20 September 2004 Parties genuine about reaching agreement Northern Ireland’s political parties are genuine about trying to resolve the outstanding issues from the three days of intensive talks at Leeds Castle, Secretary of State Paul Murphy has said. The parties will meet tomorrow (Tuesday) at Parliament Buildings with Paul Murphy and Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen to discuss unresolved issues around Strands I, II and III of the Agreement. Progress was made during the talks at Leeds Castle and the two Governments issued a Joint Statement on Saturday which said that they believed the issue of arms in politics in Northern Ireland can finally be resolved. Possible changes to the three strands of the Good Friday Agreement will be discussed this week but the Governments Joint Statement made it clear that what is on offer now is “reasonable in its substance and historic in its meaning”. Speaking this morning, Secretary of State Paul Murphy said: “The talks at the weekend did not fail, we didn’t complete them and we need to finalise them. “I’m not saying that we’re not facing difficult decisions, difficult negotiations over details and we’re going to start them tomorrow in Parliament Buildings. The accountability issue is something which the parties will have to address. “We as Governments are going to try and see whether we can come up with formulas which can provide a compromise so that people can work through it. “But I have a very strong feeling, having been in Leeds Castle for the past three days, that parties are going, genuinely, to try and sort these issues out.” Saturday 18 September 2004 Joint statement by the British and Irish governments at Leeds Castle, Kent After three days of intensive discussion we believe we can resolve the issues to do with ending paramilitary activity and putting weapons beyond use. However, as a matter of urgency all parties need to conduct consultations on the possible agreement, before we can proceed. But subject to a satisfactory outcome to these consultations, we can finally and at long last resolve the issues of arms in the politics of Northern Ireland, thereby allowing the two governments to implement all the remaining elements of the Joint Declaration, agreed last year. There is, however, not yet comprehensive agreement on how to change Strands I, II and III of the Good Friday Agreement without damaging the fundamentals of the fair and inclusive basis of the Agreement, although we believe the parties are close. Discussions will continue between the parties supported by Paul Murphy and Brian Cowen next week to bring them to an early conclusion. But let us make one thing clear. The Governments believe that what is on offer now is reasonable in its substance and historic in its meaning. We are determined to move ahead. On the one hand there must be the complete end to violence in all its forms. On the other there must be a genuine, lasting and stable commitment to power-sharing. If agreement cannot be reached, when it is clear it should be, we will find a different way to move this process forward. References in English
Irish Proclamation of Freedom Read by Patrick Pearse from the Steps of the General Post Office, Dublin, Ireland on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916 The Irish Government, June 1997:
Full text of the Good Friday Agreement, April 10, 1998. Investigation into the human rights in Northern Ireland, September 29, 1998
Nobel Peace Price Award, December 11, 1998:
George Mitchell's Peace Principles, November 1999:
Suspension of Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. February 2000:
Peace process resumed. May 2000
Inspection of IRA weapons dumps, June 2000
Abortion Referendum March 7, 2002 IRA Statement on Decommissioning April 8, 2002 Speech by Tony Blair, British Prime Minister, at the Harbour Commisssioners' Offices in Belfast, 17 October 2002. Programme for reaching a normal security end-state by April 2005 Work Programme of the Irish Presidency, 2004.
An Irish bookshop: Read Ireland
Wesley Johnston's History of Ireland
The CAIN Project (The Northern Ireland Conflict)
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry
Sinn Féin Homepage
The Irish Times
I started reading about Ireland and about its history in order to understand just a bit of the Irish paradoxes. Although I started from the very beginning the matter was still incomprehensible. I therefore began to write down the headlines in Danish.
In 1998 when I got my own website I wondered what to put there. My family, my career or my garden could not attract much attention. But my Danish survey of the history of Ireland would be different from most other websites, so I uploaded the whole story.
I considered my web-project to be complete by then. However the beginning of 1998 was to become a turning point in the history of Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement created optimism and a new hope of lasting peace. I therefore added new chapters on the peace agreement and on the ups and downs since then. Obviously there is still a way to go before a real peace has been achieved and right now I can't see the end of my project.
A lot of people wrote to me asking for details or references. This has proved the need for a brief Danish version of the history of Ireland. In 2001 more than 50 persons on the average have been visiting my website every day.
However about 10 % of the visitors on my website are non-Scandinavians. I have added this page in order to serve these people with some information about my project and with some of the important references.
I considered reference documents and speeches most interesting in the original English language. I also have to admit that a proper translation of the documents to Danish is not that simple. On the other hand the number of visitors to the reference pages in English has been very limited. Therefore all information in English will be concentrated in this English section of my website together with selected news.
I have no intention of making an English version of the whole story. I have neither the ability nor the capacity to write in English and several excellent sites already offer that sort of information.
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Opdateret d. 1.1.2009 |