      IRISH NEW ROUND-UP
      Wednesday, 28 January, 1998


1.   Governments reassert their role in peace talks
2.   Chilling reminder from loyalist group

4.   British Army killers given leave to appeal
 
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>>>> Governments reassert their role in peace talks
     
     
     A joint paper presented by the two governments to the
     northern peace talks has been welcomed as a "step in
     the right direction" by northern nationalists. 
     Following the publication of the strongly pro-unionist
     'Propositions on Heads of Agreement' document two weeks
     ago, the paper on north-south structures was cautiously
     welcomed.
     
     Sinn Fein said it noted the fact that the two
     governments had restated their commitment to already
     agreed positions. Party President Mr Gerry Adams told a
     press conference in London that the northern talks
     still required the leadership of the two governments to
     build and develop on these.  Yesterday's paper "puts
     them back into the leadership of this process", he
     said.
     
     The paper on the nature of new North-South institutions
     restated much of the Propositions document and posed a
     series of questions on more specific issues to be
     tackled in the negotiations.  But it said the two
     governments remained "firmly committed" to the
     previously-stated positions in the 1993 Downing Street
     Declaration and the 1995 Framework Document "as being
     their best assessment of where agreement might be found
     in the negotiations".
     
     Unionists were simultaneously enraged and unmoved, with
     Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble dismissing
     the new document as "bland" while party colleague
     Jeffrey Donaldson furiously tore up a copy of the bulky
     Framework Document at the news conference. To the
     delight of unionists, much of the all-Ireland dimension
     outlined in the 1995 document had been fudged or
     excised in the talks agenda presented by the two
     governments after the Christmas break.
     
     Trimble was dismissive of yesterday's paper:   "We are
     in a situation where the mountain has laboured and
     brought forth a mouse." But he insisted the Framework
     Document had already been supplanted as a basis for
     discussions and that unionists were unconcerned about
     this new paper.
     
     "The process is proceeding and the agenda is the
     Propositions on Heads of Agreement ... We have nothing
     to fear from this paper," he said. "We are opposed to
     the Framework Document. Anyone who thinks there is
     going an agreement on the basis of the Framework
     Document is not living in the real world."
     
     The series of questions posed by the paper tackles the
     meaning of "agreement" and "accountability" in regard
     to a proposed north-south 'Ministerial Council' and new
     cross-border institutions . Last night British Prime
     Minister Tony Blair said he hoped the new document
     would finally prompt meaningful and detailed
     negotiations on new arrangements linking a proposed new
     Six County assembly in the North and the 26 County
     parliament in Dublin.
     
     He met leaders of all seven parties taking part in the
     talks in advance of a third day of negotiation before
     the talks move from London.
     
     "I made it clear that what is important is that the
     future of Northern Ireland and a lasting political
     settlement can only be put through if those people from
     the traditions of Northern Ireland can come together
     and negotiate," Blair said as he left Lancaster House
     in London where the talks are being held this week.
     
     Mr Adams said he welcomed the opportunity to have a
     detailed discussion which the paper provided.
     
     "We believe that these discussions need to address an
     inclusive and comprehensive agenda, covering all of the
     issues to be resolved."  He said there should be
     equality across and between the three strands of the
     negotiations involving relationships within the Six
     Counties, within the island of Ireland and between the
     two islands reprectively.
     
     The broad issues which he said needed to be addressed
     if the causes  of the conflict are to be removed and a
     lasting settelement found" were sovereignty and
     constitutional issues; demilitarisation, including the
     release of prisoners and the creation of a normal and
     acceptable policing service; the equality agenda
     ,encompassing rights, safeguards and justice issues;
     and new political arrangements and structures.
     
     "New arrangements - their power, scope and
     responsbilities, their dynamic and transitional nature,
     will occupy the minds of many of the participants. Yet
     we should all remember that this process is not about
     institutions alone but about creating a new and
     democratic agreement," he said.
     
     A  democratic peace settlement also needed to involve
     the release of all political prisoners, the replacement
     of the RUC with a normal policing service and equality
     for all, he added. "Demilitarisation and the equality
     agenda can and should be acted on immediately."
     
     Sinn Fein had pressed for a comprehensive paper from
     the two governments to address all Ireland arrangements
     in detail to lead the process, arguing that the
     governments' agreed positions were needed for progress
     in the talks.
     
     While unionists have sought to limit cross-border
     arrangements and focus power in a Six County assembly,
     Sinn Fein is pushing new north-south arrangements as a
     process of national unity and reconciliation to
     underpin political democracy and to recognise the
     diversity and the unity of the people of Ireland.
     
     The Sinn Fein President said his party "particularly
     want to hear the agreed positions of the two
     governments on the questions they have posed to the
     other participants. We would hope shortly to see a
     comprehensive and detailed document which does this."
     
     Mr Adams also called on the Ulster Unionist Party to
     engage and show leadership: "We want to hear the views
     of the other participants and to discuss their
     proposals. We are particularly keen to listen to the
     views of the Unionist parties and acknowledge their
     concerns. It is time for positive leadership from the
     Ulster Unionist Party."
     
     But unionists were still showing little interest in
     reconciliation or dialogue yesterday
     
     In a disappointing outburst on the fringes of the talks
     yesterday, Ulster Unionist negotiator Ken Maginnis told
     Gerry Adams he did not speak to "fucking murderers".
     "That is the measure of the generosity and outreach,"
     said Mr Adams, who had previously been told by Maginnis
     two weeks ago that he did not speak to "murdering
     bastards".
     
     Mr Adams criticised David Trimble for their continuing
     refusal to even speak to Sinn Fein delegates at the
     negotiations. "I think there is a fatal flaw in what Mr
     Trimble is doing and I don't think he can wash his
     hands of the situation that we find ourselves in," he
     said, referring to the recent wave of sectarian
     killings of nationalists.
     

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>>>> 'Chilling reminder' from loyalist group
     
     
     The Loyalist Volunteer Force has dismissed newspaper
     speculation that they intend to end their murder
     campaign as "utter rubbish".
     
     In a statement to a Belfast newsroom yesterday the
     loyalist terror group said it would continue killing
     Catholics at random until the Irish government stopped
     "interfering" with the north.
     
     And yesterday it emerged that the group which is
     violently opposed to the peace process has also issued
     death threats against a number of cross-community
     workers in Lurgan.
     
     The LVF's statement demanded that the Irish government
     drop its constitutional claim to the six counties under
     British rule, and said there should be no cross-border
     institutions with executive powers.
     
     "If the Irish republic comes to terms with the reality
     of this then maybe there can be a lasting peace," the
     statement added.
     
     There had been some speculation yesterday that a
     ceasefire might be imminent following a loyalist
     meeting in Portadown at the weekend.
     
     Meanwhile the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary
     Action said that cross-community workers in Co Armagh
     who faced death threats had been "singled out" merely
     because they were Catholic.
     
     The deputy director pf the volunteer group Seamus
     McAleavey said there was clearly a campaign of
     "frightening intimidation" going on in mid-Ulster.
     
     Sinn Fein Chairperson, Mitchel McLaughlin described the
     statement from the LVF as "a chilling reminder" of the
     real and immediate threat to all nationalists.
     
     Mr Mc Laughlin said it was also clear from the
     statement that the murder campaign against nationalists
     was designed to stop political change and to force
     nationalists to accept less than their democratic
     rights.
     
     "Whether it is the LVF the UDA-UFF, the UVF or the
     Ulster Unionists Party trying to intimidate
     nationalists and hold back change, Sinn Fein will not
     be deflected from the important task of securing a
     democratic settlement to this conflict."
     
     
     *  After initial fears that three attacks on Catholics
     in Lurgan on Sunday were carried out by the LVF, it has
     been learnt that the first two incidents involved local
     joyriders. In the first incident at 6.30am on Sunday
     morning, a white car drove at a Catholic man on the
     Levin Road, on the Kilwilkee Estate. As the man fled
     towards his home the car with three men on board chased
     him. As the man literally fell through his front door
     his assailants shouted abuse at him. After the incident
     the RUC were called to the house and given the car
     details.
     
     About 30 minutes later there was an attempt to abduct a
     man delivering newspapers to a nearby shop, also on the
     Kilwilkee Estate. After the man struggled free the
     attackers rammed his van before making their getaway in
     the same white car. Local residents 
     said the car had been located on Monday night and it is
     believed that those involved were stupidly playing
     'practical jokes'. Later on Sunday morning at 8am a man
     was shot as he sat in a lorry outside his home in
     Taghnevan. The man is described as in a comfortable
     condition in hospital. Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd noted
     "the RUC's pointless response to the shooting was to
     set up a check point in nearby Ashwood." A short while
     after the shooting the LVF claimed responsibility.
     

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>>>> British Army killers given leave to appeal
     
     The two Scottish soldiers convicted of the 1992 murder
     of Belfast teenager Peter McBride were granted leave to
     apply for a judicial review in the high court on
     Monday. They are seeking to overturn an earlier ruling
     against their being granted an early release date.
     James Fisher and Mark Wright have served less than six
     years for  murder of the 18-year-old Catholic.  McBride
     was shot in the back at 10.30 on the morning of
     September 4 minutes after he had been stopped and
     searched by a British Army foot patrol, of which Wright
     and Fisher were members.
