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Bomb at Derry Tax Office

As we go Online (Thursday, 30 October) reports have come in of a bomb attack on the Tax Office on Orchard Street in Derry city centre. At 11am a masked and armed man is reported to have carried a hold all into the Government offices and warned of a bomb. Over an hour later a small explosion took place. No one was injured. A group known as the Continuity Army Council, which opposes both the present peace process and the Republican movement has claimed responsibility. Much of the city centre was sealed off.

Scots Guard Review Rejected

The family of murdered Belfast teenager has welcomed the decision not to grant early release to two members of the Scots Guards regiment convicted of the 1992 murder of their son Peter Mc Bride. The Mc Bride family were informed of the decision through the Pat Finucane Centre on Monday (27 Oct). The two Guardsmen were told that their case has been referred back for one year. In welcoming the news the family expressed its disappointment however that the case is again to be reviewed within a year. Peter Mc Bride, father of the murder victim, said, "this gives us some peace of mind, at least for a year but its disappointing that these two are still receiving preferential treatment. Life sentences are not usually reviewed for ten years but members of the British Army always get special treatment." The decision not to release Guardsmen Wright and Fisher came despite a high profile campaign by the military and political establishment in Britain. The family of the murdered New Lodge man made an unprecedented appeal to the Review Board when it met on October 12 arguing that early release of the two after only five years of a life sentence would "be a violation of natural justice and legal norms." In the letter the New Lodge family argued that early release would "send the clear message to our family that we have spent 18 years loving, caring for and raising a son whose life meant nothing to a state whose duty it is to uphold the right to life not take it away."

The final controversial decision on whether to release the men rested with the Secretary of State and there was widespread speculation that Dr Mowlam was anxious to avoid a repeat of the uproar and street protests which followed the early release of Paratrooper Lee Clegg during the first IRA ceasefire. The Pat Finucane Centre, which has campaigned on behalf of the family, was informed of the decision by the LSRB at the request of the Mc Bride family who had made clear that victims families had a right to be informed ahead of the press.

Peter Mc Bride was shot in the back as he ran away from a patrol of the Scots Guards who had stopped and searched him. The soldiers who fired were aware that he was unarmed. The grandfather of one of the convicted men, Mark Wright, has sparked further controversy in an interview with the Dundee Courier. In it he claimed that the two "were just doing their job" and "the only person responsible for that boy's death was the boy himself. " The comments, similar to those made by senior British Army officers, have angered the Mc Bride family.

Casement Accused

The Life Sentence Review Board has also recommended that the cases of Michael Timmons and Sean Kelly, the Casement Two, be put back for review until next year. The situation remains unclear however since it has also emerged that the men will soon be allowed out on one day releases to be followed by longer parole work-outs in April. This would mean that the men would definitely be released next year. The authorities allege that the two are guilty of murder because they were present at a violent incident which culminated, in a different location and by two unknown assailants, in the murder of two army corporals. Neither were accused of direct involvement in the murder; neither had direct knowledge as to the actual perpetrators; neither are alleged to have any paramilitary connections; neither have previous criminal records; both maintain their innocence.

Lurgan harassment

Legal sources in Lurgan have contacted the Centre with reports of continuing serious harassment in the Lurgan/Portadown area. According to a solicitor two young boys were thrown through the window of a hairdressers shop in an incident involving a joint RIR/RUC patrol in the centre of the town on Wednesday (29 Oct). Shortly afterwards the same patrol threatened one of the young boys but drove off when challenged by a solicitor.

Loyalist violence

Internal tensions among various loyalist factions have reached a dangerous level following the weekend car bomb attack in Bangor in which a known loyalist was killed. On Saturday night (25 October) over 150 loyalists clashed in the Spencer Rd area of the Waterside in Derry. Afterwards the Ebrington Bar, which is opposite British Army HQ in the city, was attacked by a smaller crowd in a related incident. Supporters of the UVF are alleged to drink in the latter bar. The violence follows the break-up of the Combined Loyalist Military Command and stems from tensions between the UDA and the UVF, two of the loyalist paramilitary groups who are represented at the talks by the PUP and UDP political parties. In Belfast shots were also fired at a car in what appears to internal be loyalist feuding. There are fears in the nationalist community that the frustration evident within loyalism may soon be redirected towards the traditional target: Catholic civilians.