     IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP  
     Thursday, 29 January, 1998

1.   Confusion over new inquiry into Bloody Sunday
2.   Unionist talks thaw predicted
3.   Protest at Dublin inaction over loyalist killings
4.   Analysis: Killing Catholics is part of the state

     
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>>>> Confusion over new inquiry into Bloody Sunday
     
     
     
     Relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims have said they
     are still in the dark over the details of an
     announcement by British Prime Minister Tony Blair of a
     new judicial inquiry into the massacre today, the eve
     of the 26th anniversary of the British Army shootings
     in Derry which left 14 dead.
     
     A phone call by Britain's governor in Ireland Mo Mowlam
     to one of the relatives yesterday evening communicated
     only that an announcement would be made.  She revealed
     that the story would be leaked to the media last night,
     as it duly was.
     
     One of the relatives, Hugh Doherty, said that having
     waited 26 years for today's announcement, there was
     disappointment over its handling by the British
     government.  Acknowledging that the relatives were "out
     of their depth" as powerful forces vie to control
     events, he said the British government should seek to
     consult with the relatives on the parameters of the
     inquiry.
     
     "We will sit down with them to work out the parameters
     ... to try to get a feeling of what exactly is being
     proposed," he told Irish radio this morning.
     
     There was concern at the history of British
     miscarriages of justice and of judicial "inadequacy" on
     Ireland, and he insisted that those appointed to the
     inquiry should not be tainted by these earlier cases.
     
     Mr Doherty was also unable to confirm rumours that
     immunity is to be granted to members of the Crown
     forces giving testimony at the inquiry.  "There should
     be no limits on the investigation," he warned, adding
     that nothing should be allowed to cast a shadow on the
     integrity of the new inquiry.
     
     It is hoped that Blair's announcement will mark the
     successful culmination of a decades-long international
     campaign to win justice for the victims of the
     massacre.  On 30 January 1972, British paratroopers
     fired upon unarmed civil rights demonstrators, killing
     fourteen. A tribunal by Lord Widgery into the shootings
     was dismissed as a whitewash by campaigners, who have
     since pursued an international independent inquiry into
     the events of that day.
     
     A torrent of new evidence has completely undermined the
     Widgery report within the past two years. According to
     British sources, Mr Blair will announce a review which
     will meet relatives' demands for an international
     inquiry. But it is suggested he will not deliver an
     official apology as such until the outcome of the
     inquiry.
     
     It is reported that the new inquiry will be headed by a
     senior Scottish legal figure, Lord Cullen, with the
     assistance of two international figures.
     
     Cullen will pick two more judges -- one of whom is
     expected to come from another British Commonwealth
     country. A third judge from a third country will also
     be appointed. Initial reports have suggested that the
     third judge will be from the US, but this has since
     been denied.
     
     The announcement will be welcomed by the Dublin
     government, which last year collated freshly-available
     information on the killings and submitted it in
     documented form to London.
     
     Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern indicated some weeks
     ago that he would publish the new evidence, regardless
     of what action was taken by Britain. The Dublin
     dossier, it is understood, could now be made public
     soon after today's announcement.
     
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>>>> Unionist talks thaw predicted
     
     
     Hope was growing last night that the Ulster Unionist
     Party might shortly engage in direct discussions with
     Sinn Fein, with Britain's governor in Ireland,  Mo
     Mowlam, saying a face-to-face encounter between the two
     sides would be a useful development.
     
     Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said he had begun his
     address to yesterday morning's session by acknowledging
     "what we felt was a serious attempt by Reg Empey to set
     out his party's position in a more positive way than
     before".
     
     The UUP negotiator had accused Sinn Fein of treating
     unionists as if they didn't exist; citing their
     determination to end the Union, and the murder of party
     colleagues as reasons unionists could not trust them,
     while suggesting that unionists did have understanding
     of republican feelings over issues like the
     hunger-strike.
     
     Mr Adams, has significantly stepped up the public and
     private pressure for direct talks with Mr Trimble,
     rounding off yesterday's press conference with the
     assertion: "It is my conviction that the UUP will meet
     with Sinn Fein. What I don't know is when."
     
     But earlier in the day Mr Trimble angrily dismissed
     journalists' questions on the subject, saying that whom
     he met was a matter for him, and insisting: "We have
     not had any sign of a serious engagement by Sinn Fein
     on the real issues. They're not living in the real
     world."
     
     The Ulster Unionists, he said, were talking about an
     assembly and the better government of the Six Counties
     within the United Kingdom. "Sinn Fein are talking about
     regional councils in a united Ireland. I'm not talking
     about a united Ireland."
     
     A loyalist ally of the unionists, David Ervine of the
     Progressive Unionist Party, that it was time for
     unionists to "call Sinn Fein's bluff" and confront the
     party in negotiation "eyeball to eyeball" as
     speculation grew that in the intense negotiations now
     underway, it would become logistically impossible for
     the Ulster Unionists to direct all comments to Sinn
     Fein through the chair, as has been the case so far.
     
     Sinn Fein Chief Negotiator said his party had been at
     pains to make the point that the next most important
     step in the peace process was for an engagement, face
     to face dialogue, between the representatives of SF and
     the UUP.
     
     "And I think there have been times over the course of
     the last couple of days where I certainly get the sense
     that there are people within the Ulster Unionist party
     who recognise that eventually it is inevitable there is
     going to be an engagement between ourselves and their
     party.
     
     "I in many ways liken this particular struggle to the
     struggle which has undoubtedly gone on within the
     British establishment over the course of recent weeks
     about how they will deal with Bloody Sunday," Mr
     McGuinness said.
     
     Mr McGuinness said he sincerely hoped that those inside
     the Ulster Unionist party who recognised the need for
     negotiations and real engagement would win the struggle
     within the leadership of the UUP. "I certainly believe
     there are small signs there. We need to move on to a
     meeting between David Trimble and Gerry Adams. I am
     more hopeful now than I was previously," Mr McGuinness
     said.
     
     
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>>>> Protest at Dublin inaction over loyalist killings
     
     
     Fourteen community groups from Belfast joined forces
     yesterday afternoon to mount a picket at Leinster House
     in protest at the failure of successive Dublin
     governments to highlight the collusion between the RUC
     and other elements of the British military machine with
     loyalist murder gangs.
     
     Anger has displaced despair, as Northern nationalists
     faced another onslaught of sectarian murders by
     loyalist gangs. Funerals followed shootings, shootings
     followed funerals in a week which witnessed five
     nationalists killed, four seriously injured, one murder
     bid and a pipe bomb attack.
     
     Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met with representatives of the
     groups to hear their concerns and requests for
     assistance in exposing what is happening on the ground
     in nationalist areas. Speaking at a press conference
     before the picket, Chairperson of the group Liz Groves
     said, "In the face of ongoing loyalist violence, which
     is operating in the full knowledge of the RUC, we call
     on the Irish nation through its government to defend
     the rights and lives of Irish people living in the
     north of Ireland."
     
     Rallies have taken place across the north at RUC
     inaction on the killings.  At a rally in West Belfast's
     Dunville Park, the mood was angry as thousands of
     people turned out on a cold Sunday afternoon. "I'm a
     Catholic, I'm a target," read a homemade placard.
     "Unionist cheerleaders for loyalist death squads," and
     "retaliation a myth" read other placards held by people
     in the crowd.  Activists from Newry housing estates
     staged a silent protest on Saturday, starting at Corry
     Square RUC station at the lack of effort by the RUC in
     dealing with the loyalist murder gangs.
     
     Sinn Fein Councillor Brendan Curran said, "The time has
     come to explode the myth that the killing of Catholics
     is seen as some sort of tit for tat or retaliation. The
     killings of Catholics is part of the reactionary
     opposition by Unionists to change or the potential for
     change. These killings have continued relentlessly
     since the formation of this corrupt Unionist-dominated
     state, aided and abetted by the RUC. It is time for the
     so-called silent Unionist majority to say to these
     people, enough is enough."
     
     
     RUC RAIDS
     
     But at a time when senior RUC members are busy
     'reassuring' the nationalist community that they are
     doing their best to protect them, the story on the
     ground is different.
     
     On Tuesday, against a background of loyalist killers
     stalking the streets, the crown forces raided
     nationalist homes in Ardoyne in north Belfast.
     
     The home of a Sinn Fein activist murdered by the UDA
     was raided and 16 year old Daniel arrested (for
     security reasons the families do not want surnames
     released).
     
     Two other homes were raided at the same time and 17
     year old Aidan was taken away. Another 16 year old,
     Brendan, was also raided although the youth was not
     home, having left for work earlier. His mother told An
     Phoblacht how shocked she and her family were after
     their ordeal.
     
     "I first thought the RUC had apprehended loyalists in
     the street, but was totally shocked when they ran down
     the path and battered down the door. They put me and my
     family under 'room arrest' refusing my request to see
     what they were searching through upstairs. They were up
     there for over 15 minutes and could have placed
     anything, a bug, camera or anything. It left us feeling
     our home was violated by these thugs. Once they
     realised Brendan had left for work they seemed intent
     on making the rest of us suffer for them not getting
     him. They left saying Brendan would be continually
     harassed until I agreed to work for them as an
     informer. It's despicable what they are getting away
     with."
     
     The RUC accused all three youths of riotous behaviour
     at a Sinn Fein youth protest for the release of
     prisoners in Ardoyne last November 20.
     
     Local councillor Mick Conlon advised them to pursue a
     rigorous defence. "This stinks and is an RUC attempt to
     deter young people. It really says it all that when a
     sustained murder campaign is being waged against
     nationalists, especially given the callous slaying last
     weekend in Ardoyne of Liam Conway, the RUC are pursuing
     Catholic teenagers over spurious charges."
     
     Brendan, accompanied by his solicitor, surrendered
     himself two days later. Before this the RUC told some
     of Brendan's friends, "we'll get that other bastard and
     if we don't, the LVF will".
     
     The only evidence against the youths so far is
     statements from three notorious RUC members from
     Oldpark RUC barracks.
     
     
     SHOTS IN DERRY
     
     Meanwhile, a number of people have claimed that shots
     were heard outside a Derry nightclub at the weekend.
     Eyewitnesses reported hearing two bangs that sounded
     like shots coming from an RUC landrover that had been
     patrolling the area shortly after 1am on Sunday morning
     25 January.  Terrified people dived for cover and RUC
     officers from the landrover were seen jeering. In a
     sinister twist, one of the doormen working at the club
     that night had recently been given a warning from the
     RUC that he had been named as a target by the LVF. Sinn
     Fein Councillor Cathal Crumley has hit out at the RUC
     saying, "the only contribution they appear capable of
     making at this fraught time is to ridicule and make a
     mockery of victims of loyalist violence."
     
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>>>> Analysis: Killing Catholics is part of the state
     
     By Mary Nelis
     
     
     
     The grief of the Catholic people of the North was
     visible in the tears of the mourners at the funeral of
     the latest victim of the Loyalist murder gangs, John
     McColgan. Their anger and bewilderment was expressed by
     the priest at John's Requiem Mass. Fr McKinlay said
     that "whole communities, and in particular the Catholic
     community, feel close to rejection in this land, our
     land, the place we call home."
     
     "Why?" said the child of John McColgan. Indeed, the
     entire nationalist community might ask why. What have
     we done to be persecuted for so long in our own land?
     
     What have we done? Is our crime that we were born in
     that partitioned entity, the Six Counties? Or that we
     are Catholic by religion and Irish nationalists by
     politics? Is our crime a belief that we should all
     equally call this land home, and that we should be
     allowed to live without fear in every part of it?
     
     In the eyes of those who murdered John McColgan, we
     Catholics, Nationalist, we Irish "are children of a
     lesser God". We are papists, Taigs, non persons, to be
     disposed of in much the same manner, as the Ku Klux
     Klan disposed of the African Americans.
     
     Nowhere was this more apparent than on the walls of the
     Loyalist wings in Long Kesh. The "Kill 'em all -- God
     will sort 'em out" mentality has been woven into the
     tradition of militant Unionism and the demonic artwork
     on the gable walls in Loyalist areas finds its
     inspiration in the banners of the Loyal institutions.
     Such institutions have fed and fuelled the sectarian
     appetites of the loyalist killers and the legitimacy
     conferred on the Orange Order by the British
     establishment ensures that the killing machine is
     continually oiled and ready for use in the event of any
     threat to the Union.
     
     The same British establishment pressurised Mo Mowlam
     into conferring political patronage on the mass
     murderers of Catholics in much the same way as David
     Trimble did with the late Billy Wright. It was a hard
     pill for the grieving relatives of those brutally
     murdered to swallow but it was made much worse by the
     attempts by the media in Britain and Ireland to
     describe the current pogroms against Catholics as tit
     for tat.
     
     In the midst of the killing fields of Belfast, the
     silence of the paper doves and lighted candle brigade
     is palpable.
     
     Those who came pouring onto the streets after the IRA
     ceasefire ended, shouting "Give us back our Peace",
     obviously don't equate the murder of 20 Catholics in
     the past year as a violation of the peace process.
     
     How come the white ribbon groups waited until 20
     Catholics died to reactivate their "support for peace"?
     After the Warrington bomb and the terrible deaths of
     two children, condemnation reigned down on the heads of
     the IRA. Thousands took to the streets. Flowers and
     books of condolences appeared in every City Hall from
     here to Cork. Choirs were set up, and the relatives of
     those so tragically killed became media stars overnight
     and were sent on world tours.
     
     It has taken 20 Catholic murders to produce a half
     hearted response from the professional peace groups and
     the Trade Unions. Could it be that the deaths of
     pregnant woman, teenagers, men trying to earn a living,
     are seen as part of a necessary sectarian consensus to
     keep the status quo intact? In the eyes of the British
     and pro Union establishments, murder is only murder if
     done by the IRA or the INLA. All other killings are tit
     for tat and the media with few exceptions have
     willingly pursued this line, consigning the murder of
     Catholics as non-events. Those who die are just
     statistics.
     
     Is it any wonder that the UVF, in a coded message to a
     newsroom after the sadistic murder of the seven months
     pregnant Kathleen O'Hagan and her unborn child, could
     say to the Catholic community, "Brace yourselves for
     death, because you are going to see plenty of it"?
     
     And is it any wonder that its counterparts the UFF,
     whose representatives walked out of the talks this
     week, could proclaim at the same time, that the British
     government were preparing for a United Ireland and that
     they would be targeting Sinn Fein, the Irish government
     and the SDLP and that even if the IRA were to lay down
     their arms permanently, they, the UFF, would continue
     their activities?
     
     Last year, prior to the elections and only days after
     the killing of three Catholics in North Belfast, Ken
     Maginnis defended the loyalists, stating that their
     ceasefires were still intact but warning that if Sinn
     Fein won seats at the election, it could result in an
     upsurge of violence. Can you imagine the reaction were
     Gerry Adms to make such a declaration? Yet the message
     given to the Catholic community from the respectable
     leaders of Unionism and the loyalist murder gangs is
     clear, "If we don't' get our way, you will get it in
     the head".
     
     Political Unionism have never had a problem with the
     loyalist killing machine, either publicly or privately.
     Neither, it would appear, have the Labour Party. The
     Heads of Agreement document was written over the bodies
     of Catholic and it seems once more that the British
     military establishment are literally calling the shots.
     Why shouldn't Trimble laugh?
     
     
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     EVENTS
     
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>>>> Bloody Sunday commemoration, Pittsburgh 
     
     
     The University Branch of Irish Action Force is 
     co-ordinating a demonstration at the British Consul's
     Office in Pittsburgh, Pa., located in Oxford Center,
     Fourth and Grant Streets on Friday, January 30, l998,
     between the hours of 11:00 am and 12:30 pm.  During the
     demonstration, the facts about Bloody Sunday will be
     distributed to the public.  IAF will also attempt a
     meeting with the British Consul.
     
     All are welcome to participate.  Picket signs with the
     names of the fourteen murdered on Bloody Sunday will be
     available for the demonstrators to carry.  All
     organizations are urged to display their banners at the
     demonstration to let the British know that America has
     not forgotten.
