Ireland News Update

Friday 12th December 1997

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Ireland News Update Service

Private Prosecution in Hamill Case

H-Blocks Escape

The escape from the H-Blocks of Liam Averill, a republican prisoner from Maghera, Co Derry, on Wednesday December 10 has stirred up considerable controversy on the day that a high level Sinn Fein delegation enters Downing St for an historic meeting with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. There is speculation that Averill escaped from the high security jail in a bus carrying relatives who had attended a pre-Christmas party. He is thought to have been wearing women's clothes. The escape has been marked by significantly greater media coverage than the sectarian murder at the weekend of Gerard Devlin in Glengormley outside Belfast. The murder of Gerard Devlin, the second this year of a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) official, failed to provoke any statement whatsoever from the Democratic Unionist Party. Ken Maginnis MP of the Official Unionists blamed the death on concessions made to republicans while the MP for the area where the murder took place, Clifford Forsythe, waited three days before finally issuing a statement. In the week before the murder the leader of the Ulster Unionists, David Trimble, made a totally false statement when he claimed that GAA members in an unspecified area of Tyrone had hindered a Protestant church service.

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Submission on Policing

No updates were issued last week as we were busy finishing a submission on policing requested from us by the Select Committee of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of Parliament which is looking at the future of policing. Our contribution which is available on this website, calls for the establishment of an International Commission on the Administration of Justice to investigate the options for the creation of a democratic and accountable justice system and policing service. Also this week the Committee on the Administration of Justice published a 300 page document drawing together international examples of how policing could be dealt with in the context of the North. The report, Human Rights On Duty, is the result of an 18 month research project which studied policing in Canada, Australia, South Africa, El Salvador, the Middle East, Holland and Spain. The report will be available soon on the CAJ website. See link to CAJon this site.

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Private Prosecution in Hamill Case

The family of murdered Portadown man Robert Hamill, who earlier this week met with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern during his visit to Belfast, are to proceed with a private prosecution in their bid for justice. Robert Hamill was attacked by loyalists in the centre of Portadown in April and died soon afterwards from his injuries. Only one individual, Paul Hobson, is still in custody following an RUC investigation described by observers as criminally incompetent. Six loyalists were originally charged following the incident. Three were released on 31.10 and two others on 19.11. The RUC officers who observed the attack from their landrover but refused to intervene have yet to be suspended despite repeated calls from the family. At a meeting in Stormont the family handed the Northern Secretary of State Dr Mowlam a petition with 20,000 signatures calling for the suspension of the officers, one of whom is reported to have personal links with one of the men who had earlier been charged with the murder. The family have now appealed for donations to enable them to take an unprecedented private prosecution. Donations can be made to the Robert Hamill Justice Fund, Account nr.712275634 Northern Bank, Portadown , Bank Sorting Code 950411 (see past updates Nov 8, Nov 26, June 1 and May 8 )

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Orange Disorder

The re-election of Robert Salters as Grand Master of the Orange Order this week took place against the occupation of the House of Orange, the Orange HQ in Belfast, by supporters of the hard line Spirit of Drumcree faction. The Spirit of Drumcree group are angry at what they see as 'concessions' made over the summer when a number of orange parades were cancelled. The 30 hour occupation of the House of Orange forced members of the Grand Lodge to reconvene the half yearly meeting at the West Belfast Orange Hall. Scuffles broke out earlier when Grand Lodge members were denied access to their HQ. The Spirit of Drumcree faction has a mostly rural base and is close to though not controlled by the Democratic Unionist Party. Though most of the media attention has focused on the divisions within the Order regarding parades there is undoubtedly serious disquiet within the grassroots of the 40,000 strong organisation at the lack of internal democratic structures. See the report on this site For God and Ulster for more information on the Orange Order and the Spirit of Drumcree faction.

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Apprentice Boys Parade

Tension is high in Derry this weekend in the run-up to the annual Closing of the Gates ceremony by the Apprentice Boys of Derry, the smaller of the Loyal Orders. In previous years this parade, which culminates with the burning of the effigy of the traitor Lundy on Bishop St, has been accompanied by loyalist paramilitary displays, sectarian intimidation and violence. The Bogside Residents Group has announced a counter demonstration in the Diamond area of the city shortly before the Apprentice Boys parade is due to pass but have agreed to cancel any demonstration should the Apprentice Boys reroute away from the main shopping area. Traders in the city have expressed concern over the years at the disruption caused by the ceremony on an important shopping day just two weeks before Christmas. In response the Apprentice Boys have promised to curb on street drinking and provide extra stewards. Similar promises in August failed to prevent trouble.

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Ireland News Update

Friday 12th December 1997

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Ireland News Update Service

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