<HTML><PRE>Subj:	Fwd: Irish News 15 January
Date:	98-01-15 13:19:23 EST
From:	Buni1957
To:	DeeMcA, RedAxe66, Connemara7, FenianBoyo
To:	JustaLocal
CC:	sean@cafes.net


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Forwarded Message: 
Subj:	 Irish News 15 January
Date:	98-01-15 01:52:33 EST
From:	paddyn@erols.com (Paddy Newell)
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Reply-to:	paddyn@erols.com
To:	ireland_list@email.rutgers.edu

>From The Irish News 15 January 1998
http://www.irishnews.com

****************************************************
SF 'anger and grave disquiet' hardens
SF alarmed over shooting involving undercover units
Murdered man of peace is buried
Nazi-like' RUC blitz leaves 12 injured
Sleepless nights on the great divide
***************************************************

SF 'anger and grave disquiet' hardens

By William Graham
Political Correspondent

     REPUBLICANS last night further hardened their position in
     opposition to the British and Irish government's proposals to the
     Stormont talks.

     And top level Sinn Fein sources told the Irish News there was now
     "grave disquiet and enormous anger" inside republicanism.

     This latest development will cast a cloud over the peace process
     given the enormous efforts over the last few years to bring Sinn
     Fein to the talks table.

     At the same time it should be emphasised that despite this
     disquiet, there is no question of republicans pulling out of the
     talks process.

     Sinn Fein sources said that in the run-up to the publication of
     the British-Irish propositions for heads of agreement they had
     publicly and privately spent considerable time urging both
     governments not to give way to what republicans see as unionists
     and loyalists playing the orange card inside and outside the
     talks.

     "We made it clear to both governments and left them in no doubt
     about Sinn Fein's opposition to the document and we stated that
     such a paper would be a mistake.

     "We were aware that the heads of agreement document was coming up
     but the governments did not actually consult us on its contents,"
     sources said.

     There were telephone conversations between SF president Gerry
     Adams and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

     Sinn Fein however, had what they thought was a very good sense of
     what was coming at the talks on Monday and they clearly believed
     it was a document intended to appease UUP leader David Trimble.

     This belief in republican's minds was reinforced by the leak last
     weekend to the Daily Telegraph.

     Last night SF sources were blunt and said:"The situation as it
     sits at the moment is that there is grave disquiet among
     republicans."

____________________________

SF alarmed over shooting involving undercover units

     By Jonathan Turner

     SINN Fein has called on security minister Adam Ingram to explain
     the circumstances behind a bizarre shooting incident in Belfast
     which left a police officer critically ill in intensive care.

     The drama began when a police patrol pursued a female soldier in
     an unmarked car down the Crumlin Road at around 1.20am on
     Wednesday morning.

     The soldier crashed her car in Carlisle Circus, colliding with a
     signpost in the centre of the roundabout.

     The police officer - who was in uniform - is understood to have
     been shot when he approached the vehicle after it crashed.

     Sinn Fein councillor Alex Maskey said nationalists were living "on
     a knife edge" in north Belfast after the recent spiral of LVF
     shootings.

     "I am calling on Adam Ingram to immediately explain the full facts
     surrounding this sinister shooting involving covert units of the
     British army and RUC," he said.

     "This is an area where the nationalist community lives in fear,
     particularly after the recent sectarian attacks and killings by
     loyalists.

     "A full and immediate detailed explanation as to the presence of
     undercover units, the nature of their activities and the events
     which lead to the shooting have to be made public," Mr Maskey
     added.

     Both the police unit and the soldier are believed to have been
     patrolling the area as part of an ongoing security clampdown after
     the recent increase in loyalist violence.

     The woman is now helping police with their inquiries, an RUC
     spokesman said yesterday.

     Police are remaining tight-lipped about the exact circumstances
     surrounding the incident until an internal investigation is
     completed.

     Bill Stewart, Assistant Chief Constable for Belfast, stressed
     there were "strict guidelines" governing security forces which
     were designed to prevent such situations.

     "Without in any way wishing to pre-empt the results of the current
     investigation, we will be examining every facet of this incident
     and will take whatever action is necessary to prevent any
     reoccurrence," he said.

     "Considering the circumstances in Northern Ireland and the risks
     involved in protecting the public from terrorism, incidents of
     this kind have thankfully been few and far between."

     Mr Stewart said he joined with the injured policeman's colleagues
     in wishing him a speedy recovery.

     Women soldiers have been used in covert operations by the British
     army in Northern Ireland in the past.

_____________________________

Murdered man of peace is buried

     Terry Enright gave young people "a sense of their worth and their
     dignity," Bishop Patrick Walsh said yesterday. Brendan Anderson
     reports on the funeral of a man murdered in a sectarian attack who
     has become a symbol of reconciliation

     MORE than 10,000 people, caught up in the wave of revulsion at the
     loyalist paramilitary murder of Terry Enright, followed his
     funeral cortege through his native west Belfast yesterday.

     The funeral of the 28-year-old community worker, who was gunned
     down in the early hours of Sunday, was the biggest seen in Belfast
     since the hunger strikes in the 1980s.

     Holy Trinity Church in Turf Lodge was packed to overflowing and a
     public address system was used to relay the words of Down and
     Connor Bishop Dr Patrick Walsh to thousands of mourners lining the
     nearby streets.

     Bishop Walsh said he had shared the heartbreak of three families
     in recent weeks. Gerry Devlin, Eddie Treanor and Terry Enright, he
     said, were murdered because they were Catholics in vulnerable
     places.

     Mr Enright, a father of two young daughters, was shot as he worked
     at his part-time job as a security man at the Space night-club in
     Talbot Street near Belfast city centre. The LVF admitted
     responsibility for the murder but security forces are in no doubt
     that the UFF played a major part in the killing.

     Mr Enright's young widow Deirdre and her mother Margaret McCorry
     helped carry the coffin into the church after the mile-long
     journey.

     Bishop Walsh asked: "Is being a Catholic a sufficient reason in
     some perverted minds for being murdered?"

     Bishop Walsh said the murder evoked a "very evident and a very
     moving shared grief", especially from those who recognised and
     praised Mr Enright for his work at Gort-na-Mona club, his wider
     sporting interests and "above all, his cross-community work".

     Holy Trinity parish priest Fr Matt Wallace said the solidarity
     shown by well-wishers and mourners from across "the so-called
     divide in our society" was evidence that "evil would never win the
     day".

     "The work to which Terry was so deeply committed, of building
     relationships and healing wounds in our tragically divided
     community will continue," he said.

     Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, an uncle by marriage of the
     murdered man, said the volume of tributes from all denominations
     and the sense of loss shown by young west Belfast people were all
     proof that Terry Enright was "an extraordinary human being".

     "The young people in particular have demonstrated their grief in a
     touching and disciplined way and I commend them for that.

     "It is only by standing up for the rights of all citizens to
     equality and against the reactionaries and by bringing about a
     real peace with justice, can this conflict be brought to an end.
     Those political leaders who refuse to engage in honest dialogue
     cannot escape their responsibilities for this situation," the west
     Belfast MP said.

     Senior SDLP talks negotiator and former west Belfast MP Joe
     Hendron said Mr Enright would be remembered with "terrific esteem
     and dignity" as a symbol of "what the future could be for this
     part of Ireland".

     Dr Hendron said he was calling for an immediate meeting with
     security chiefs to demand an explanation for "many unanswered
     questions" about the murder of Catholics.

     "We would all like to know why the so-called security forces have
     now become the actual insecurity forces. There are many
     observation towers set up around our city by the RUC and British
     army to apparently protect our community from this kind of
     obscenity. What in reality are the so-called security forces doing
     to protect Catholics," he said.

     Secretary of State Mo Mowlam, speaking during Northern Ireland
     question time in the Commons, said: "The deaths and murders that
     we have seen should be condemned as appalling acts by everybody
     and this point I am sure the house would offer its condolences to
     Mr Enright's family while he is being buried at this very point in
     time."
________________________________

'Nazi-like' RUC blitz leaves 12 injured

     By Steven McCaffery

     AN RUC operation in north Belfast that left more than a dozen
     people injured has been branded "nazi-like" by a 60-year-old
     witness.

     The pensioner spoke of heavy-handed police tactics in a night when
     SDLP Belfast city councillor Martin Morgan was among those said to
     have been beaten by riot police.

     The alleged attack on Mr Morgan was yesterday raised in the House
     of Commons by SDLP MP Eddie McGrady.

     The RUC arrived at the Whitewell Road - the scene of long-running
     sectarian tensions - after rival loyalist and nationalist
     protestors took to the street on Tuesday night.

     Though the groups did not clash, nationalists say they were later
     beaten off the road by police - without warning.

     Mr Morgan, the SDLP representative for north Belfast, suffered
     wounds to his face, arms and back after he said he was beaten and
     kicked by police.

     He said he was struck by an RUC officer after he had identified
     himself as an SDLP councillor. When he complained about the
     violence to policemen at the scene Mr Morgan claims he was told:
     "Sure that is what we are paid to do.

     "What I saw was open, indiscriminate brutality, carried out by RUC
     officers."

     He appealed for calm and dignity "in the face of such aggression"
     and added: "I want a full and independent investigation into the
     actions of the RUC. History has taught us that you cannot rely on
     the normal systems of complaint."

     Mr Morgan arrived at the scene following telephone calls from
     nationalist residents angry at RUC actions during efforts to clear
     Whitewell Road.

     It is claimed police Land Rovers pulled up to nationalist
     protestors before riot police jumped from the vehicles.

     A 60-year-old woman who lives on the Whitewell Road was among
     those who complained of RUC tactics.

     "The police were in hysterics," she said.

     "People were getting trailed around and were even being told they
     couldn't stand in their own gardens. They went into one man's
     front garden and shouted at him on his own doorstep to get
     inside."

     Saying she had "no time for trouble-makers", the pensioner added:
     "I have always backed the police - but never again. It was like
     something out of a nazi film."

     A man who had formed part of the nationalist residents' protest
     said the rival factions had been 600 yards apart when police moved
     in.

     "Later when I was in my garden I was told by the RUC to get back
     into my house or they would come in and wreck it and arrest me."

     An RUC spokesman last night insisted any formal complaints would
     be fully investigated.

     Residents of the largely Protestant White City area had blocked
     the road at around 9pm in a demonstration demanding RUC protection
     for their area. A 39-year-old White City woman said police had
     arrived after a nationalist counter-demonstration appeared.

     But she blamed nationalists for the increased tension in the area
     over recent years, insisting they had "always started the
     trouble".

     "I am sick of the White City getting a bad name. There are bad
     elements on both sides."

     Ulster Unionist Belfast city councillor, Nelson McCausland, said a
     reliable witness had told him police tactics "appeared
     heavy-handed in this instance".

     But he linked rising tensions to what he said was increased Sinn
     Fein involvement in the area.

     "There is a need for good police protection on an on-going basis
     and that was the purpose of the demonstration [on Tuesday night]."

     Sinn Fein north Belfast councillor Danny Lavery said the events of
     Tuesday night would reinforce his party's determination to see the
     disbandment of the RUC.

     "I note, not for the first time, that the victims of the police
     brutality must go to the police to have their complaints
     investigated.

     "Women, children and a public representative were battered
     mercilessly by an RUC riot squad who made it clear to everyone how
     much they enjoyed the exercise."

     An RUC spokesman said police were called to the area after "the
     latest in a long list of sectarian incidents".

     "The police, as usual, were in a no-win situation at such
     circumstances and if such circumstances are to be avoided in the
     future they should be given the support of local people on both
     sides."However, where anyone has any complaint about police action
     in such tense situations, they are asked to make an official
     complaint which will be investigated."
_______________________________

Sleepless nights on the great divide

     IT has been more than a week since the partially-deaf pensioner
     has slept in her own bed, writes Steven McCaffery.

     And with sectarian tensions in the Whitewell Road and White City
     areas of north Belfast escalating still further, relatives fear
     she may never spend another night in her home.

     Each day, as evening draws in, the elderly Catholic woman and her
     two adult sons leave their house, set on the edge of the interface
     that separates the areas.

     They claim that regular attacks on their home from stone-throwing
     loyalists have meant they now spend the nights with relatives.

     Despite an insistence from the mainly Protestant White City
     population that nationalists are responsible for "starting
     trouble", the family, who do not wish to be named, say the
     long-running tension has become too much to bear.

     They insist the RUC has failed to offer them adequate protection.

     "It all started to get really bad around the first Drumcree, but
     this year has been the worst," said one of the elderly woman's
     sons.

     "Just before the 12th (July) the police stood outside my house and
     did nothing as a gang of fellows stood in our garden and smashed
     16 panes of double-glazed windows.

     "They threw stones and pot plants through the windows. They even
     had time to take our hanging-plants down and throw them through as
     well.

     "In August the same thing happened. I phoned 999 - but a few
     minutes after that two RUC Land Rovers drove past the crowd
     stoning our house. I was panicking at that stage and my mother and
     my brother ended up having to go into our attic for safety."

     A police spokesman said any complaints would be fully
     investigated.

     Since the incident it is believed a formal complaint has been
     lodged with the RUC.

     In White City, community spokesmen blame nationalists for
     launching attacks. They insist they are a Protestant community
     surrounded by Catholics. The Whitewell nationalist family
     disagrees.

     "In Whitewell there are Catholics and Protestants - but it is
     wrong to say White City is 'surrounded' in any way," said the
     Whitewell resident.

     "Whitewell and also Bawnmore and Longlands (largely Catholic
     areas), are surrounded by the loyalist Shore Road, Tigers Bay and
     Rathcoole.

     "There is a bigger picture that is not being seen."


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