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Loyalist Violence

As opposition to the Good Friday Agreement within the unionist community grew within the past week the Loyalist Volunteer Force has continued its campaign of terror against the Catholic community. On Tuesday April 21 29 year old Adrian Lamph, a council worker in Portadown, was gunned down at his workplace. Adrian had a two year old son with his partner Nicola. Hours earlier a Portadown loyalist, Paul Hobson, had been remanded for trial in Craigavon court on charges related to the murder of Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill in the town last year. At the remand hearing an RUC officer claimed to have witnessed a "three- on- one fight" taking place despite the fact that a mob of 25/30 people had been involved in the attack on Robert and his three friends. Following the hearing members of the Hamill family were followed by loyalists in a vehicle.

In the early hours of Saturday April 25 Ciaran Heffernan was found shot dead near the railway station in Crumlin, County Antrim. The 21 year old student was murdered as he returned from a drink with friends in the town. There are allegations that two men arrested in connection with the murder had earlier that evening attended an anti-agreement rally in nearby Antrim. Speakers at the rally included Sammy Wilson of the DUP and Pauline Gilmore of the Ulster Protestant Civil Rights Movement. Local people in Crumlin claimed that a "rogue loyalist element" arrived in the mainly nationalist town soon after the rally ended. The lack of interest in the murder from sections of the British media, in particular ITN, has been slammed as insensitive.

Loayalist attacks continued on the Saturday night with a bomb attack on a pub outside Armagh. No one was injured in the no warning explosion at Steptoe's bar/ restaurant. Two men died in a similar loyalist attack on the same bar some 20 years ago. The LVF are believed to be responsible for the weekend attack.

Given the climate of crisis and hysteria presently being created within unionism by the DUP, UKUP and elements of the Ulster Unionist Party further random attacks on the Catholic community appear inevitable.

The Good Friday Agreement

As speculation grows that Sinn Fein will recommend acceptance of the Agreement a bizarre realignment of politics here appears possible, at least in the short term. A minority of Unionist MPs are in favour of the agreement as are the SDLP, Alliance, Womens Coalition and the political representatives of the loyalist UVF and UDA. On the other hand six Unionist MPs are in open rebellion against the Trimble leadership. Three of them appeared on a no vote platform last week alongside the DUP and UKUP. The Orange Order is also firmly in the no camp which, though expected, puts the lie to its claim to be merely a harmless religious organisation. The LVF campaign of terror outlined above is clearly part of that same no vote lobby. Republican Sinn Fein and the 32 County Sovereignty Committee are also opposed to the agreement though obviously for very different reasons. Unionist arguments against the agreement focus around opposition to the early release of prisoners, any changes to the nature of policing and the involvement of Sinn Fein at ministerial level within any new assembly. In effect the agreement does sound the death knell for majoritarianism and unionist hegemony within the northern state. It is highly likely that Sinn Fein will hold one ministerial position if six ministers are proposed and two positions if ten ministers are chosen. That prospect is causing unionism one of its greatest dilemmas this century and may eventually lead to a scenario where anti agreement unionists may oust Trimble as leader and cause the collapse of the assembly and the all Ireland bodies which must, under law, emerge from it. UKUP leader Bob Mc Cartney has already suggested that this will happen. The irony is that the outcome of such a scenario would inevitably weaken the Union even more since British public opinion would blame unionists for the collapse of the peace agreement. (The Sunday Business Post is running a series of highly recommended articles which can be accessed on the net on the agreement.)

Of those elements of particular interest to the Centre the following can be said:

Prisoners- the majority of prisoners were due to be released within the next two years in any case. Of greater concern is the media concentration on the prisoners-victims debate which, by omission, suggests that there are only two sets of victims, those of loyalist and those of republican violence. The hundreds of families bereaved by the State are completely ignored further adding to the hurt and sense of injustice felt by those families and communities. Indeed amidst all the talk of reconciliation and healing the State has allowed the only two soldiers serving terms for murder to remain members of the British Army. (see last update on Peter Mc Bride)

Policing- The Terms of Reference in the Agreement on policing (Annex A) should in theory allow for a thorough root and branch review of policing. The language is 'politically correct'. However it is clear that unionists will resist any changes and recent statements from the RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan regarding the "best police force in the world" and slamming the "politicisation' of the debate make it clear that our work has just begun. We are not of the opinion that the new commission, despite international imput, will deliver a policing service which is democratic, accountable and disarmed. It is incumbent on those within the nationalist and the human rights community to argue the case forcefully to the commission. Only then can we expect change. For our part we intend putting considerable energy in the next months into compiling a dossier on the human rights violations of the RUC. This will include a summary of all the reports published over the years and will include collusion, torture, killings, use of plastic bullets etc. We hope to present this to the commission in the autumn. At present we understand that the British Government is trawling for prospective candidates to sit on the commission.

Parades- Whether this agreement can actually deliver on equality for nationalists within the North will emerge on the Garvaghy Rd this summer. Will the Orange Order be faced down or not? Will the RUC again refuse to move against the Order? The resignation of two loyalists from the parades commission last week and the cancellation of the publication of the commission report into a number of parades this summer suggests that the Orange card can still be played. The intervention of David Trimble with the British PM which led to cancellation of the report is being interpreted as evidence that the report recommended rerouting of the orange parade away from the Garvaghy Rd. If this was indeed the case there must be suspicions that securocrats within the NIO will now attempt to force the parade through in order to safeguard Trimbles position within the Unionist party. In any case it must be said that the handling of the parades issue has been characterised to date by total incompetence both on the part of the Commission and the British Government.

Punishment Shooting

A 79 year old man became the oldest victim of a punishment attack when he was shot in the knees and ankles in North Belfast on Thursday April 23. The man had been tied up and brutally beaten before being shot. He is recovering in hospital. The attack was widely condemned and the IRA issued a statement disclaiming any involvement.

Garvaghy Website

The Garvaghy Rd residents Coalition are in the process of creating a website which should be up and running within the next week. They can be emailed as of now at garvaghy@aol.ie