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Bloody Sunday book launched

St Mary's Youth Centre in the Creggan esate, Derry was packed to capacity on Tuesday night (21 Jan) for the launch of a new book on Bloody Sunday. Edited by Don Mullan, the book entitled Eyewitness Bloody Sunday contains many of the 500 eyewitness accounts given by civilians shortly after the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry on Sunday, 30 January 1972. On that day 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead by members of the Parachute Regiment as they took part in an illegal anti-internment march organised by the Civil Rights Association. Fourteen civilians were also wounded, one of whom subsequently died from his wounds.

In his talk Don Mullan spoke about the courage and dignity of the people of Derry at the time of the massacre and how, twenty five years on, they were still campaigning to clear the names of those killed and wounded. He spoke about the official inquiry established by the British Government under the then Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Widgery. He said that it was now abundantly clear, as it was in 1972, that Widgery's brief was to blame the demonstrators and to clear the Paratroopers. Don Mullan documented much of the evidence which Widgery chose not to consider including tapes of military radio comunications on the bizarre grounds that they had been collected illegally. (Actually they were taped quite lawfully by a radio ham, James Porter).

Don Mullan also spoke of the bravery of the people killed and injured. How some of those killed had been shot as they tried to rescue others already fatally wounded. He praised the work of the relatives who are still campaigning to see a proper inquiry established and those guilty of murder brought to an open and public trial.

Others speaking at the book launch included Dr Raymond McClean, who was present at many of the postmortems of the dead and who in 1973 became the first Nationalist Mayor of Derry for over fifty years. John Kelly, whose brother Michael was murdered also spoke as did Jane Winter of the British-Irish Human Rights Watch based in London and who has been researching much of the new material now available in the Public Record Office in London

Bloody Sunday Trust to be launched

The twenty fifth anniversary commemorations for Bloody Sunday will begin in Derry on Thursday morning (30 January) with the launch of the new Bloody Sunday Trust in the Rath Mor Centre, Creggan. The launch will coincide with the publication of a new report written by Dr Dermot Walsh, professor of Law at the University of Limerick. Dr Walsh's report will contain an analysis of material unearthed in the Public Records Office in London which was recently declassified by the British Government. His report is expected to show that Lord Widgery, appointed by the then British prime minister Edward Heath to conduct the official inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, deliberately chose to ignore important evidence from British soldiers involved in the killings because it would have seriously compromised the official British line which was that troops only fired after they had come under fire themselves. (Full details of Dr Walsh's report will be published by the Pat Finucane Centre on the internet on Thursday to coincide with the launch of the Trust.)

In an exclusive statement to Ireland News Update, the chairman of the Bloody Sunday Trust and Pat Finucane Centre member, Robin Percival said that: "The Bloody Sunday Trust has been established as a major educational and archival resource within the city. Its first goal is to bring together and keep in Derry all the material that currently exists with regard to Bloody Sunday. What is not widely known is that much of the material relevant to Bloody Sunday is actually located in Britain. The 500 civilian witness statements which formed the basis of Don Mullan's book have been deposited in Hull University. Only two official copies of the transcript of the Widgery Tribunal were made. Neither copy came to Derry. So part of the work of the Trust will be to compile a comprehensive and definitive Bloody Sunday archive."

Robin Percival's statement continued: "Building the archive will only be part of the work of the Trust. We also want people to know the truth of what happened on Bloody Sunday and its significance in terms of the struggle for human rights and its enormous implications for the recent history of both Ireland and Britain. At the core of the Trust's agenda is the belief that if we are to build a future in Ireland which respects and cherishes human rights as well as cultural diversity then we all need to remember Bloody Sunday and learn the important lessons that it teaches us. That is why a particular focus of the Trust will be to build bridges to the Unionist community in the city and the North of Ireland generally where there remains considerable ignorance and misunderstanding about what happened on Bloody Sunday and its politicaland human right significance."

Full details of the launch of the Bloody Sunday Trust, whose patron is former Bishop of Derry Dr Edward Daly, will be carried in next weeks News Update.
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Labour confusion over Bloody Sunday

The British Labour party appears to be unclear what position it should take with regard to the growing demands for a fresh inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday. The confusion arose from comments made by two Labour party spokespersons which appeared to contradict one another.

The confusion began when Eric Illsley, the Labour spokesperson for economic affairs said while visiting Derry on Monday (20 Jan) that he would consider calls for a new inquiry into the Bloody Sunday deaths. He is reported to have expressed concern, according to the Irish News, at the evidence pointing to the fact that a British Army gunman had been operating from Derry's Walls and had killed at least three people. Mr Illsley said the latest evidence was "obviously a cause for concern. I'm sure that the Labour party will, in the 25th anniversary year, look at this very seriously indeed to determine if there is a cause to refer the matter back to a further inquiry and to look at the report of Lord Widgery to see whether there is evidence available which was not available many years ago (sic), to see whether another inquiry will be required."

However the office of Mrs Mo Mowlam, who is the Shadow Secretary of State appeared to be surprised by the comments of Mr Illsley and a spokeperson said that "our main aim is not to relive the past but rather to build for the future."

A group of eleven Labour MPs, led by Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, have tabled a motion in the British House of Commons calling for a fresh inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday.

In a potentially significant statement on Tuesday (21 January) Minister of state for the Environment in the Irish Republic Liz McManus, a member of Democratic Left, called on Dick Spring to make a detailed examination of the new evidence. She said that "it is clear that important evidence was not examined at the time."
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Mayor Richard Dallas speaks on Bloody Sunday

In a surprise statement, the Unionist Mayor of Derry, Richard Dallas, has criticised the British Government for their response to the new evidence presented by Channel 4 on British TV.(See last weeksIreland News Update He has accused them "of acting too hastily" in their refusal to consider calls for a fresh inquiry into what happened in Derry on Bloody Sunday. He was reported as saying in the Derry Journal: "I was quite surprised that the government dismissed the calls for a new inquiry so soon after this new evidence emerged. I would have preferred to have seen the government take some time to analyse, question and consider all this evidence before categorically ruling out a new inquiry"

The report in the Derry Journal said that 'councillor Dallas's comments will come as a shock to many Nationalists in light of recent Press reports in which he is reported as saying that Bloody Sunday should be kept in the past. The mayor was anxious, however, to put these comments in their proper context when he talked to The Journal yesterday (20 Jan). "The report in the Belfast Telegraph seemed to suggest that I had changed my position in regard to Bloody Sunday but that is certainly not the case. I have always said, and I did so in the Pilot's Row Community Centre not so long ago, that the events of Bloody Sunday should be left in the past. But I have also said that what happened that day was deeply regrettable and while we should never forget what happened, we should all be striving to keep it in the past and move forward together."'

Another motion in the British House of Commons has called on the British Government "to say sorry to the relatives of those who were killed" on Bloody Sunday and to "waive the 30-year rule on relevant historical documents and to institute an independent inquiry with independent British, Irish and other historians to investigate these new claims and to examine the outcome of the Widgery Tribunal". The motion was tabled by former Tory Northern Ireland Minister Peter Bottomley MP and Harry Barnes, a Labour MP. Both belong to the pro-union New Dialogue group which use to be called New Consensus. The real purpose of the motion, which is not supported by either the relatives of those killed or by any human rights groups in Northern Ireland, is contained later when it refers to "the ruthless way in which the Provisional IRA has hypocritically exploited Bloody Sunday for its propaganda purposes...."

First Derry Presbyterian Church attacked

A series of paint bombs were thrown at the First Derry Presbyterian Church last weekend (18/19 January). The First Derry Presbyterian Church is situated close to the Bogside area of the city inside the city walls. The attacks on the church have been widely condemned by all sections of the Derry community. The Church has particular significance to republicans and nationalists because the father of John Mitchell, the promiment Fenian, was a minister there in the 1840s when John was a child attending school in Derry.

Homes of SDLP councillors attacked

The homes of the two SDLP councillors who live in the Creggan estate in Derry were attacked in the early morning of Tuesday (21 January). In the case of councillor Pat Devine, leader of the SDLP on Derry City Council and former Mayor, he had three windows broken. A short time later Councillor Jim Clifford's home was also attacked. He has claimed that the attacks were carried out by the IRA in order to stop him complaining about vote personation diruing this years local elections.

Sinn Feins Presdeint Gerry Adams has condemned the attack and Sinn Fein councillor from Creggan Cathal Crumley has also condemned the attacks calling those who carried them out as being "cowards".

RUC complaints procedure reviewed

A report written by Mr Maurice Hayes, a former senior civil servant in the North of Ireland has called for changes in the procedure for dealing with complaints against the RUC. Hayes is proposing that the current "independent Commission for Police Complaints" be replaced by an ombudsman. This new ombudsman would have the powers to investigate even the most serious crimes, including that of murder, allegedly committed by RUC officers. The report was published in Belfast on Thursday, 23 January.

Maurice Hayes is proposing that the RUC ombusdman would be a full-time appointment. He or she would not be a police officer but instead would be a judge or senior barrister of ten years standing who would have a staff of up to 30 people. Complaints againt the RUC would not be conducted by RUC officers, as is the case now, but by a staff which could be recruited from Customs and Excise, the DHSS, the legal profession, as well as seconded police officers. Hayes also proposes that the ombusdmen would have powers to initiate her/his own investigations.

Hayes has also recommended that there be changes in the standard of proof required in disciplinary cases - currently the criminal standard - against RUC officers. Hayes said that "one of the reasons why so few complaints are substantiated is that the standard of proof is impossibly high."

Significantly the proposals by Maurice Hayes have been welcomed by both RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan and by the Police Authority. The official government position at the moment is that they will consult "widely" on the proposals. Civil Liberties organisations such as the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) and the Pat Finucane Centre have also given qualified support for the proposed reforms.

One significant gap in the Hayes proposals has, however, already been identified. It is the failure of Hayes to recommend a clear obligation on RUC officers to co-operate fully with any investigation carried out by the Ombusdman. As was demonstrated by the Stalker inquiry into the RUC's "shoot-to-kill" policy in the early 80s, the RUC have a tradition of refusing effective cooperation with inquiries that could uncover damanging evidence of RUC criminality and illegality, often with the support of the most senior officers in the force.

The need for a radical overhaul in the current procedures is underlined by the most recent evidence of the failure of the current system. In 1995 (the last year whose figures are available) less than 1 per cent of complaints against the RUC resulted in any form of disciplinary action. In terms of complaints against the RUC operating under emergency legislation the situation is even worse. Between 1990 and 1992 there were 1,235 reported complaints againt the RUC from persons arrested under the emergency legislation. None of the these were upheld despite the fact that over £1 million was paid out by the RUC in compensation

Plastic Bullets report rejected

The RUC Chief Constable, Ronnie Flanagan, has rejected the main recommendation contained in the report carried out by the British Inspector of Constabulary, Colin Smith, into the rules governing the use of plastic bullets in Northern Ireland. The recommendations of the report which was presented to the British parliament were made public on Tuesday (22 January). The report recommended a number of tighter restrictions on the use of plastic bullets. The inspector's report, however, crucially proposes that RUC guidelines should be the same as those that apply in Britian, where significantly plastic bullets have never been used despite serious civil unrest in most of the main cities of England such as London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool in the past fiften years.In Britian the guidelines stipulate that plastic bullets should only be used when there is a danger to life. In Northern Ireland plastic bullets can be used when there is a threat to property as well.

Speaking against this key recommendation the RUC Chief Constable said that public disorders in Ireland were "of a totally different character" to those in Britain, though he did not go on to say what these differences might be. He argued that there would have been far greater destruction of property in the North over the July/August period if they had not used plastic bullets.

The report by the British inspectorate, the highest level of authority within the British police, reported that 17 people had been killed in incidents involving plastic bullets since 1972 and that 511 people had been injured. This latter figure is significantly below the actual figure since many of those injured in Derry, for example, would seek medical atention across the border and would not be included in figures compiled by the British.

The reaction of the RUC has been widely condemned. In a statement issued by Claire Reilly, chairwoman of the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets, she said that she was "totally disgusted but not surprised" by Mr Flanagan's statement. "There are already rules in existence regarding the use of plastic bullets. The problem is that these rules have not been adhered to. If the rules had been adhered to over the past 20 odd years, 17 people would not be dead and hundreds others injured. The rules state that plastic bullets are only to be fired when a police officer or property is in danger. There are also other rules which state that plastic bullets are not to be fired above waist level and not to be fired at less than 20 meters and they are never to be fired in no-riot situations. All the people who have died have been hit in the head and upper body region. The courts here have found that the majority of people killed were not involved in riots. Over one and a half million pounds in compenstation has been paid to the families of the victims and those injured. In all of that time only one police officer was ever charged and he was acquitted."

In an interview on Radio Foyle, Angela Hegarty of the CAJ reminded listeners of the indiscrimnate firing of plastic bullets which had been carried out by the RUC and which had been documented in the report published by the Pat Finucane Centre, In the Line of Fire. She called for the total ban on the use of plastic bullets. This demand has been supported by Sinn Fein, SDLP, and the Pat Finucane Centre.

Action against closed visits

Irish prisoners on remand are planning to take legal action over the closed visiting conditions which are preventing them from meeting their solicitors properly. The ten remand prisoners are held in Belmarsh prison's special secure unit. As a result of the restrictions put on the visits to prisoners, their solicitors have given up trying to prepare for court cases. The prisoners themselves are refusing to accepts visits from relatives because of the security arrangements. Some have not seen their families for up to a year and can only keep in touch via the telephone, which, it is alleged, often do not work properly.

The conditions for visits mean that warders are always present and there is floor-to-ceiling glass separating visitor from prisoner. As a consequence solicitors were forced to hold up documents to the glass in order that their client could read it. As one relative said: "If a solicitor has thousands of pages to get through and is sitting separated from the client by a glass wall from ceiling to floor, well, it is practically impossible to discuss the case."

Gareth Peirce, who is acting for several of the Belmarsh prsioners is in the process of seeking a judicial review of the prison authority's decision to enforce closed visits

Drumcree Update

The Orange Order in Portadown has reiterated that it will not meet representatives of the residents of the Garvaghy Road, the nationalist area in Portadown through which the annual Orange parade passes. It now appears that the Orange Order not only object to the spokesperson of the residents, Breandan Mac Cionnaith, who is a former Republican prisoner, but also the Secretary of the Garvaghy Residents' Coalition, Rev Eamon Stack, who is a Jesuit priest.

Meanwhile members of the Garvaghy Residents' Coalition have been holding a series of private meetings in their efforts to avoid Drumcree 3. On Monday (21 January) they met with Patrick Mayhew, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. They were accompanied at the meeting by John Hume, MP, MEP and the SDLP constituency representative Brid Rodgers. It is expected that they will also meet with Archbishop Robin Eames early next month. They are planning to meet the leader of Fianna Fail, Bertie Ahern, this Thursday (30 Jan).

The report of the North Commission on marches and parades is to be published on Thursday of this week coming.

Roisin McAliskey application refused

Two British High Court judges rejected an appeal by Roisin McAliskey, against being extradited to Germany to stand trial for an alleged IRA mortar bomb attack. The two judges ruled on Wednesday (22 Jan) that the fact that Germany did not send its citizens abroad for trial did not invalidate its request to extradite a British citizen. The judges ruled that if accepted the argument would lead to the "surprising result" that Britons could commit crimes elsewhere then come back to Britian confident they could not be returned to face trial. This argument did not impress the Irish Minister of Justice, Nora Owen, who last week refused to extradite James Corry to Germany. Corry was accused of being involved in the same offence as Roisin. Nor does it impress the majority of the 29 countries who are signatories to the Extradition convention. They also refuse to extradite their own nationals. They do, however, as does Germany, allow for their nationals to be prosecuted for any alleged offences within their own country

In a letter to the Irish Times, Niall Andrews, a Fianna Fail member of the European Parliament, challenged the British Government to justify why Roisin McAliskey needed to be held in a prison in London when it was perfectly possible for her to be held in a prison in the North of Ireland, especially as she was arrested at her home near Coalisland in Tyrone. He is intending to raise the case in the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament.

Visit PFC's Roisin Page or
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Loyalists bomb again

Loyalist paramilitaries attempted to kill a Catholic couple and their five month old daughter in Larne last Monday (20 Jan) when they planted a booby-trap bomb under their van. The bomb exploded with all three members of the family inside. Fortunately no one was injured. This is the first known attack by Loyalist paramilitaries on a family with no republican or nationalist connections since the UVF killed Michael McGoldrick in Portadown last July. One of those targetted by the Loyalists in Larne, John Shaw, has already lost relatives to Loyalist paramilitaries. His uncle Bertie Shaw was shot dead by the UDA in 1993. A cousin has also been the target of a number of unsuccessful Loyalist attacks.

In a statement following the attack the British Government said that the continued participation of the political representatives of loyalist paramilitaries in the multi-party talks was now under question. The statement refering to previous Loyalist attacks said that "those incidents, and possibly that at Larne yesterday, inevitably raise questions over the position in the Northern Ireland talks of the two parties associated with the loyalist paramilitaries."

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has asserted that double standards are being applied as between loyalists and republicans. "The very reason why people want to see the loyalists being kept in the talks is the very reason why Sinn Fein was prevented from being in talks".

Television highlights plight of the missing

A BBC television programme on Tuesday (22 Jan) has highlighted the plight of the families of those people who have disappeared and whom it is believed might have been killed by members of the IRA. The 40 minute programme called Missing highligted the case of two men John McClory and Brian McKinney who disappeared after they were abducted on 18 May, 1978. The programme alleged that the men could have been shot by the IRA because they used a gun belonging to that organisation to carry out an armed robbery.

It is believed that at least 12 people are still missing after being abducted during the troubles. All are believed to have been killed. Their cases are highlighted by an organisation known as Families of the Disappeared.

Republican prisoners trial collapses

There have been calls for a full inquiry into the circumstances behind the breakout of six prisoners held in Whitemoor prison in England in September 1994. Five of the six prisoners were convicted of IRA related offences though one of them, Danny McNamee, has consistently denied any links with the Republican movement. The calls for the inquiry were led by their lawyers after the judge ordered the trial to be abandoned after prejudicial press comment in the London Evening Standard.

Following the surprise collapse of the trial on Thursday (23 January) Michael Mansfield QC, one of the counsel for the defence, said that there was evidence of a cover-up as to what had really happened before and during the breakout. He claimed that vital video recordings had gone missing. In particular video tapes showing the crucial moment when the prisoners went through a perimeter fence at the high security jail had "disappeared". Mansfield went on to say that none of the defendents had cut the fence.

John Boddington, chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, very quickly denied that prison officers were involved in the escape and he suggested that if the defence lawyers had "any evidence of third party involvement, they should bring that evidence to the police very quickly."

Mr Justice Kay who took the decision to abandon the trial said that he was also concerned at what he termed the "deteriorating mental condition" of five of the accused.

The collapse of the trial now leaves the way open for campaigners for the release of Danny McNamee to press for his case to go back to the Appeal Court in Britain. There is now growing recognition that McNamee was wrongly convicted of involvement in IRA activities. Details about the campaign to free Danny McNamee have today been posted on the Pat Finucane Centre website.