     IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP
     Tuesday, 20 January, 1998


1.   Nationalists protest against loyalist murders
2.   Attacks on Mass goers in Portadown
3.   Threat to Fermanagh nationalists
4.   Claims by 'unapologetic anglophile' challenged
5.   Sinn Fein candidate exposes health and safety scandal
6.   Analysis: Goverments' paper 'offers nothing to nationalists'



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>>>> Nationalists protest against loyalist murders
     
          
     Hundreds of nationalists today protested outside peace
     talks in Belfast against an escalating campaign of
     sectarian slaughter being waged against their
     community.
     
     Six Catholics have been shot dead by loyalist
     death-squads in the past six weeks, fuelling a growing
     sense of nationalist alienation.  Media depictions of
     recent developments have been seen to be entirely at
     odds with the experience of Catholics:  the Ulster
     Defence Association (UDA) made high-profile threats to
     end a professed ceasefire, even as the death-toll of
     their Catholic victims mounted; while in back-room
     political dealings, their unionist allies largely
     succeeded in erasing nationalist goals from the agenda
     of peace talks.
     
     With fear in nationalist areas at a recent high,
     demonstrators today held placards bearing plaintive
     cries such as: "What ceasefire?  What concession?  What
     price a Catholic life?", "Stop the Slaughter" and "The
     Myth of Retaliation".
     
     Drawing on this sense of unease, the Irish National
     Liberation Army (INLA), a small Republican paramilitary
     group, yesterday shot dead their second loyalist
     paramilitary in the past four weeks.  Jim Guiney, a UDA
     commander in South Belfast, was shot dead at his shop
     in the Dunmurry area.
     
     Local Sinn Fein Councillor Paul Butler called for an
     immediate end to all of the killings, which have in
     recent days  intensified the fear within the entire
     community.  "The killing of Catholics have been a
     regular occurrence both throughout  this process and
     before it began," he said. "No doubt the killing of Jim
     Guiney will be used as an excuse for another spate of
     attacks and murder attempts on totally uninvolved
     Catholics."
     
     With violence escalating, the prospects of a peaceful
     settlement seem bleaker now than at any time since the
     current talks began in October.
     
     Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams arriving for the talks
     at Stormont Castle in Belfast added his voice to those
     of the protestors.   Catholics were being murdered for
     political advantage for unionists at the talks, he
     said, and not as "retaliation" for earlier killings.
     
     "This sense of tit-for-tat and so on is not the sense
     that ordinary nationalists and ordinary Catholics feel
     about what is happening at this time. We're saying: the
     Orange card is being played. It's being played and
     being rewarded," he said.
     
     He again stressed that the UDA, currently represented
     at the peace talks table, had carried out some of the
     recent killings claimed by the renehade Loyalist
     Volunteer Force (LVF) and the shooting last night of
     taxi driver Larry Brennan in South Belfast.
     
     He said the UDA had a "no claim, no blame" policy.
     "They are actually collaborating with the LVF and are
     content the LVF should claim some of the operations for
     which they are responsible."
     
     Ordinary decent Catholics were being plucked off the
     streets with impunity, he said.  But Mr Adams said he
     would not press for the expulsion of their political
     representatives in the talks - the Ulster Democratic
     Party.
     
     "We have always held the view that the Loyalists and
     everybody else should be involved in these discussions,
     all of us."
     
     He said he was quite certain some of the people in the
     talks representing loyalism were sincere in their own
     terms in trying to bring about a political settlement.
     
     As the British and Irish governments prepared to
     present a range of options for possible political
     cross-border institutions to be put to the talks, Mr
     Adams appealed to unionists to engage in dialogue with
     his party.
     
     The joint paper was announced at the end of discussions
     which move to London for three days next week.  These
     discussions will be "crucial" to the future of the
     talks, said Irish Foreign Minister David Andrews.
     
     Mr Adams said it was the Unionists' refusal to do so
     which was creating the climate for the killings which
     had been happening.
     
     "The way to prevent the killings, to stabilise the
     situation, is for genuine and honest dialogue to happen
     inside these negotiations."
     
     
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>>>> Attacks on Mass goers in Portadown
     
     
     A warning to be vigilant has been made as attacks on
     Mass-goers in Portadown have escalated.
     
     In an eerie echo of the sustained loyalist picket of
     the Harryville Church, St Patrick's Church and St
     Patricks Social Club in the Armagh town have become a
     new focus for attacks on Catholics.
     
     The William Street site is near to the spot where
     Robert Hamill was murdered last year by a gang of
     loyalist thugs, yards from a RUC landrover.
     
     The attacks which started last October, when fireworks
     were thrown into the Church. The Church has been daubed
     with sectarian LVF graffiti and youths have burst into
     it during Mass to pelt mass goers with eggs and spit
     into the Holy water.
     
     Reports of gangs of 12-14 year old youths, including a
     large number of young girls, point to the attitudes
     that are being fostered within the predominantly
     Protestant town.
     
     Independent nationalist Councillor Breandan Mac
     Cionnaith, talking to AP/RN, has pointed out that while
     the media picked up on the story most reports failed to
     highlight the fact that St Patricks Church sits inside
     the RUC's security ring.
     
     "If teenagers can run riot within this RUC security
     ring, what protection would be afforded to Mass-goers
     if loyalists with guns had burst into the Church during
     the novena?" Asked Mac Cionnaith.
     
     He warned nationalists in the Portadown area to be
     vigilant as known loyalists had been spotted driving
     around nationalist areas.
     
     
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>>>> Threat to Fermanagh nationalists

     
     Nationalists in the Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler
     who have been receiving threats from loyalists since
     last October are now receiving chickens' heads through
     the post.
     
     Local Sinn Fein Councillor Gerry McHugh has also
     reported one instance where a rat's head was nailed to
     the door of a nationalist home.
     
     McHugh also claimed that a New Year's Eve incident,
     when 10 shots were fired at the home of the Protestant
     Kelly family, is totally unconnected.
     
     And while Unionist councillor Sam Foster is busy trying
     to play up the threat to Protestants, McHugh has said,
     "Republicans are not interest in perpetuating these
     kinds of incidents."
     
     He also pointed out that loyalists were not beyond
     carrying out such acts to "suit their own ends." McHugh
     denied media reports claiming that INLA was responsible
     for the attack.
     

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>>>> Claims by 'unapologetic anglophile' challenged
     
     
     
     By Christy Mac an Bhaird (for the Irish People)
     
     On Monday, a Sinn Fein spokesperson in Derry attacked
     recent allegations that the White House had passed
     sensitive information to Sinn Fein, as reported in the
     British newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph, on January
     18th.  The party has described the claims as an
     unwelcome
     
     The allegations surfaced in a new book by the former US
     ambassador to England, Raymond Seitz, a career diplomat
     who was ambassador from 1991 until 1994. Seitz,
     appointed by President George Bush to the London post,
     claims that Sinn Fein supporters in the White House
     passed "secret" information to the Republican Movement.
     He also attacks the present US ambassador to Ireland,
     Jean Kennedy-Smith, claiming she was not up to the job.
     
     Seitz left his London post after Bill Clinton appointed
     retired Adm. William Crowe to the position. Seitz did
     not return to the United States but stayed in England,
     where he is on the board of directors of several
     British companies, including British Airways, G & C,
     Cable and Wireless, RTZ Corp, Shandwick, and the
     Telegraph Group. He is also a trustee of the National
     Gallery and the Royal Academy.
     
     Beginning January 18th, the book has been serialized in
     the Sunday Telegraph, which is published by the
     Telegraph Group, of which Seitz is a director. A
     republican source in Ireland says, "Seitz obviously
     wants to sell books," and adds that Seitz has referred
     to himself as an "unapologetic Anglophile."
     
     The 57-year-old Seitz is also vice-chairman of Lehman
     Brothers in Europe and serves on the international
     advisory board of the British American Business Council
     with such others as retired Adm. William Crowe (former
     US ambassador to Britain), John Kerr (former British
     ambassador to the United States), Robin Renwick
     (another former British ambassador to the United
     States) and Margaret Thatcher.
     
     
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>>>> Sinn Fein candidate exposes health and safety scandal
     
     
     
     Martina Kenna, the Sinn Fein representative in Dublin
     South Central has exposed scandalous working conditions
     for cleaning staff at St Joseph's Hospital.
     
     After receiving complaints from workers in the
     Hospital, Martina carried out an undercover
     investigation and applied for work with Professional
     Contract Cleaners Limited.
     
     She was told to report for work at St James' on 13
     November where she was started with no proper training
     provided and no background check carried out.
     
     Though the supervisor gave her a quick rundown of what
     she was to do, when she enquired about receiving
     Hepatitis B injections, which are necessary for workers
     in a hospital, she was told she would receive them in
     eight to ten weeks. Nor was she asked about her own
     health or immunisations she had received.
     
     Denial of immunisation against Hepatitis B can prove
     fatal if the highly contagious disease is contracted.
     
     Martina was was expected to clean six wards including
     bathrooms and offices within two and a half hours. She
     was provided with no protective clothing
     
     Criticising the conditions, Martina said: "The
     continual disregard for the cleaners and their health
     and safety is all the more scandalous as they have to
     clean special isolation wards where patients with
     highly contagious diseases are kept. Yet the they
     receive no training on safety measures."
     
     The materials for the job consisted of "old toilet
     brushes, bits of rags and scouring cream There was no
     bleach available which is unbeleivable if toilets are
     to be cleaned and germ free."
     
     Martina continued: "The cleaners are employed by the
     contractors, but the Hospital has a responsibility to
     both patients and to employees."
     
     She further complained that drugs and syrinches are
     easily accessible and that on a number of occasions
     staff had been attacked by psychiatric patients.
     
     She worked in the Hospital for four days and also
     highlighted the poor wages of the cleaners which fall
     below the minimum wage of #5.00 per hour as advocated
     by trade unions.
     
     One former worker is in the process of bringing a case
     against it to the High Court. It involves a needlestick
     injury resulting in the lady in question contracting
     Hepatitus B.
     
     The Sinn Fein representative has offered to give
     evidence at the hearing in support of the action.
     
     
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>>>> Analysis: Goverments' paper 'offers nothing to nationalists'
     
     
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     Members of the Cearta group on nationalist rights on
     recent murders and the governments' paper,
     'Propositions on Heads of Agreement'
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     THERE has been much debate in the last few days about
     the so-called breakthrough of the 'heads of agreement'
     paper. While nationalists were attending the funeral of
     Terry Enright en masse the British and Irish
     governments were patting themselves on the back,
     congratulating themselves on their wonderful agreement.
     
     The people who walked behind Terry's coffin watching
     Clara, Aoife and Deirdre bury their father and husband
     were under no illusions about this breakthrough.
     
     They knew exactly why it had come about, the orange
     card was played again by the British government and
     David Trimble inside the talks and loyalist
     paramilitaries outside. "Any Taig will do - intimidate
     them, terrorise them and push them into an agreement".
     
     They have been doing this all over Christmas, randomly
     attacking nationalists pubs, hotels, workplaces and
     homes. There were bombscares south of the border to let
     the Irish government feel the heat and give them a
     strong message. Sign up or else.
     
     The scene for the murders of Gerry Devlin, Eddie
     Treanor, Seamus Dillon, Terry Enright and Fergal
     McCusker was set. Give in to loyalists demands or else
     this is what you will get and plenty more of it. And
     the deck of cards caved. Nationalists rights once again
     were put to the bottom of the pile. Intimidation has
     worked or has it?
     
     You would expect that after the recent murders by the
     LVF (and whoever else was involved) that nationalists
     on the ground would keep their heads down, that they
     would be scared into submission.
     
     Well the opposite is the case. There were vigils in
     north and west Belfast.
     
     Seamus Dillon's brother very publicly denounced the
     Northern Ireland state, its police force and army at a
     protest outside the courts and we have seen one of the
     biggest funerals in west Belfast in many years.
     
     The most important thing about that funeral in case
     anyone missed it was the number of young people who
     were there. Young people with a very strong political
     analysis, young people who are under no illusion about
     the British government, about loyalists, about
     unionism. Young people who have grown up through these
     troubles.
     
     They know perfectly well that there are no shortcuts,
     they know that they can cave in now but they will be
     still protecting themselves from loyalist attacks 10
     years from now if we do not reach a settlement that
     addresses the root causes of conflict.
     
     Isn't it ironic that the people most likely to be
     affected in the short term by loyalist murders and
     unionist intimidation are the people who take a more
     long-term view and have the courage to stay in for the
     long haul and not have a knee-jerk reaction. Irish
     government take note.
     
     Cearta - The Charter for Change which we have drawn up
     defines the key conditions which must underlie any
     peace settlement if it is to succeed. The core
     principles of the charter - that partition has failed
     and must be ended, and that human rights are
     non-negotiable - are consistent with the policies of
     all the nationalist parties at the talks and articulate
     the view of the wider nationalist community and beyond.
     
     Partition has institutionalised sectarianism in this
     state and an internal settlement will perpetuate that
     sectarianism. Nationalist unity is essential if we are
     to achieve a settlement that is acceptable to the broad
     nationalist family.
     
     This document is an unacceptable document. David
     Andrews or Bertie Ahern can try and convince us that
     this is not an internal settlement until they are blue
     in the face, but the jury is out.
     
     Nationalists throughout Ireland and further afield see
     it for what it is - an internal settlement with not
     even the barest minimum nationalist demands of cross
     border executive bodies with real powers.
     
     You only have to listen to what is being said on the
     ground, in the GAA clubs, in the community centres, in
     nationalist newspapers. Nationalists say NO to this
     document.
     
     All nationalist political parties take heed - SDLP,
     Irish government and Sinn Fein. We want and we deserve
     better than this.
     
     We want a political settlement which ends
     discrimination, which disbands the RUC, sends the
     British army back home, and guarantees peace and human
     rights for everyone.
     
     Negotiations are supposed to be open minded, with a
     level playing field and no pre-determined outcome. This
     is not the case at present. Tony Blair continually
     informs us that the union is safe.
     
     David Trimble meets with unelected loyalist
     paramilitaries but refuses to meet with Sinn Fein. Call
     this negotiations. This is not the way it happened in
     central America, in South Africa and we will not accept
     it here.
     
     Cearta has a very strong message for the nationalist
     negotiators. Take that document off the table, it is
     the product of unionist intimidation.
     
     It is a recipe for disaster, it will perpetuate the
     injustice that gave rise to the armed conflict in the
     first place. It is an attempt to lower nationalist
     expectations.
     
     We have an unprecedented opportunity to build a lasting
     peace. Get back in there and start again. There are no
     shortcuts. If we gave into unionist intimidation over
     the past 25 years there would be no talks process now.
     We have no intention of giving in now. Nationalists
     were abandoned 75 years ago, we will not be abandoned
     again.
     
     Caitriona Ruane, Claran Quinn, Brendan MacCionnaith,
     Father Joe McVeigh, Paddy Kelly, Jim Hasson, John
     Gormley, Gerard Rice, Oliver Kearney, Eileen Howell.
     Ciaran Kearney, Ruth Taillon.
