<HTML><PRE>Subj:	 RMD980209 Irish news for Monday 9 February
Date:	98-02-09 07:15:02 EST
From:	rmlist-reply@irlnet.com (RM_Distribution)
To:	rmlist-reply@irlnet.com (Multiple recipients of RM_Distribution - Sent by)

     IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP
     Monday, 9 February, 1998


1.   Sinn Fein appeals for nationalist co-operation 
2.   Huge RUC mast erected in West Belfast
3.   Belgian delegation calls for repatriation of prisoners
4.   Activism keynote of Dublin candidate
5.   Analysis: The Free World
     
___________________________________________________________
     
     
>>>> Sinn Fein appeals for nationalist co-operation 
     
     
     Sinn Fein have called on the rival nationalist SDLP
     (Social Democratic and Labour Party) to reassert the
     primacy of the joint peace initiative which brought
     about the current peace process.
     
     The call by Sinn Fein Negotiator Gerry Kelly follows an
     attack on his party by SDLP Deputy Leader Seamus
     Mallon, who accused Republicans of "dishonesty" at
     peace talks.
     
     The present discord between the two parties has arisen
     because of deap-seated opposition among nationalists to
     the return of a Six County assembly, currently the
     subject of negotiation at the talks.
     
     Mr Kelly, speaking at at the Joe McManus memorial
     lecture in Sligo, said the five-year-old initiative by
     the respective party leaders, Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein
     and John Hume of the SDLP, had advanced peace efforts
     by overcoming party political differences between the
     two.
     
     But he said many people were now asking why the SDLP
     had conceded an assembly to unionists, particularly
     given the "overwhelming historical and contemporary
     evidence about unionist abuse of institutions which
     they control".
     
     
     DISCRIMINATION
     
     A previous assembly at Stormont Castle in Belfast was a
     fount of unionist power in the north of Ireland until
     1972, when it was replaced by Direct Rule from London.
     Unionists would again expect to dominate a restored
     assembly on the basis of their built-in majority in the
     six counties.
     
     Nationalist concern is heightened by the continuing
     sectarian and discriminatory practices of unionists on
     city and district councils around the north such as
     Belfast City Council, and the Northern Ireland Forum,
     set up in 1996 but currently boycotted by both
     nationalist parties. Sinn Fein has argued that if a
     proposed all-island structure was subordinate to a Six
     County assembly, it would not have the dynamic to bring
     about the kind of deep-seated, durable settlement that
     is required.
     
     Mr Kelly particularly criticised the SDLP Deputy Leader
     who he said favoured the "failed approach" of
     marginalising some parties. Sinn Fein's representative
     for north Belfast said any resolution should go to "the
     heart of this conflict" as envisaged by the Hume/Adams
     initiative.
     
     "This is the type of momentum envisaged by the
     Hume/Adams initiative. It was for inclusiveness. It was
     for maximum cooperation between our parties on agreed
     positions. It was for bringing about a comprehensive
     settlement.
     
     "Other failed efforts dating back over the last quarter
     of a century had a different agenda. They sought to
     cobble together minimalist positions with some of the
     parties while seeking to exclude, to marginalise
     others. It failed. Unfortunately given his recent
     remarks it appears that SDLP deputy leader Seamus
     Mallon still favours this failed approach."
     
     Mr Kelly said the two parties had a responsibility to
     co-operate and make progress on those issues about
     which there is agreement.
     
     In times of change, all political leaders were
     presented with "huge challenges", he said.   The nature
     of political parties, and Mr Mallon's relationship with
     his own party could have made it difficult for him to
     transcend a party-political line.
     
     However, that was what was required by the Hume/Adams
     initiative, he added.
     
     "Our parties disagree on some issues - we have a
     different analysis - and our party leaders have made
     this clear in the past. But yet we have a
     responsibility to cooperate and make progress on those
     issues about which there is agreement."
     
     The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, had, he said,
     made it clear the party would not be "diverted into
     bickering with the SDLP, when what is required is the
     maximum focus by nationalists in pursuing a truly
     democratic peace settlement".
     
     
     TRIMBLE/MALLON
     
     It was a matter of some satisfaction to unionists that
     the SDLP were attacking Sinn Fein both inside and
     outside the negotiations room.  Questioning whether Mr
     Mallon was supportive of a joint nationalist approach,
     Mr Kelly said that Sinn Fein were nonetheless
     determined to ensure that any new structures would be
     "bigot-proof and veto-proof".
     
     "In recent days Seamus Mallon has accused Sinn Fein of
     stepping outside what he refers to as the 'nationalist
     consensus' in support of an assembly in the north.
     Ironically at the same time he accuses us of being
     afraid to stand on our own. Sinn Fein has a very clear
     view of what these negotiations are about and we are
     wedded to dialogue as a means of bringing about change.
     
     "Mr Mallon accuses us of stepping outside the
     nationalist consensus. Was he ever part of, or
     supportive of, a real consensus? Does he favour
     Trimble/Mallon in place of Hume/Adams?
     
     "For our part Sinn Fein is determined that the
     unionists are not allowed to regain powers - which all
     of the contemporary evidence shows they will misuse and
     abuse. Any structures which Sinn Fein ultimately agrees
     to will have to be both bigot-proof and veto-proof."
     
     

___________________________________________________________
     
     
     
>>>> Huge RUC mast erected in West Belfast
     
     
     The erection of a massive new communications mast at
     Andersonstown RUC barracks was described by Sinn Fein
     yesterday as "a flagrant breach of the spirit and the
     letter of the talks process".
     
     The rapid construction of the mast on the west Belfast
     base of the militarised RUC police has coincided with
     the announcement this morning of a consultative paper
     on the RUC by Britain's governor in Ireland, Mo Mowlam.

     The tower, which stands well over 100 feet high, was
     put up over the weekend, and has infuriated west
     Belfast residents who are concerned at implications for
     their own health and for the peace process in general.
     
     "You read about these power stations sending out
     microwaves and the like and nobody tells you anything
     about what these towers might do," said one local
     businessman.
     
     A protest picket was held at the RUC barracks to
     protest what is being seen as the latest step in the
     Crown force's policy of increased militarisation.
     
     West Belfast councillor Chrissie McAuley said: "Today's
     actions by the RUC and British army are part of their
     continued militarisation programme which in just two
     years has seen almost 50 million spent on constructing
     new barracks and refurbishing old military bases.
     
     "The securocrats, whose militarisation policy has
     resulted in no real change in British military policy -
     or in the levels of occupation of nationalist areas and
     the harassment of the population - are eroding public
     confidence."
     
     
     REFORMS
     
     The consultative paper on the RUC published this
     morning by Mo Mowlam suggests minor reforms to the
     Northern Ireland Police Authority which oversees the
     operations of the RUC.  But it was being touted by
     British officials today as "the most far-reaching
     review of police accountability in Northern Ireland for
     30 years".
     
     Ms Mowlam told a news conference: "I wish to make the
     RUC open and accountable to the whole of Northern
     Ireland including those elements of the nationalist
     community who see weaknesses, not just in the RUC but
     police authority and would like changes to be made."
     
     But she said changes had to be kept in perspective and
     she rejected calls for the disbandment of the 92%
     Protestant RUC, historically an instrument of
     oppression of nationalists.
     
     The document suggests three possible options for
     reforming the existing Police Authority.
     
     One idea would involve Mowlam appointing members on a
     more geographical basis. A second option could involve
     either direct elections or the selection of members
     based on the number of seats held by political parties
     at local council level or in any new elected body. A
     third hybrid idea suggests elected members forming half
     the Authority and appointees the other half.
     
     It is not anticipated any changes will be brought in
     before the current Police Authority is due for
     reselection in the summer of the year 2000.
     
     
___________________________________________________________
     

>>>> Belgian delegation calls for repatriation of prisoners
     
     
     
     A delegation of Belgian MPs and human rights lawyers
     have concluded a fact finding visit to Derry, where
     they met with a number of human rights and prisoner
     support groups.
     
     After attending the Bloody Sunday commemoration in
     Derry last weekend, a spokesperson for the group said
     the 1972 massacre by British Army troops was "a matter of
     international importance".
     
     "It was not an internal problem for the British but a
     problem of human rights. Any new inquiry needs to have
     an international dimension so as to properly address
     the issue of Bloody Sunday and achieve the support of
     the families".
     
     During the visit the delegation visited Long Kesh
     prisoners. The group called for the repatriation of
     Irish political prisoners in English jails. Whilst
     here, they also took the opportunity to visit the
     relatives of Martina Anderson who is currently the
     longest serving female Republican prisoner and has now
     been incarcerated for 13 years.
     
     Martina's family explained to the delegation that they
     are at the moment urging the British Home Office to
     change the conditions under which Martina is
     imprisoned.
     
     She is still on a restricted transfer which means that
     she is under British Home Office conditions which
     curtails her eligibility for review of sentence.
     Although Martina has already served 13 years she has a
     tariff for the year 2005 and will not be eligible for
     review of her sentence until she has served 17 years.
     The delegation expressed concern at the severity of
     this decision despite the fact that Martina is
     imprisoned because of conspiracy charges which means
     that she is not responsible for inflicting hurt or
     injury to people. This is in direct contrast to the
     special treatment handed out to Lee Clegg, the British
     paratrooper who was convicted of the murder of teenager
     Karen Reilly. He was then released having served just
     over 2 years of a life sentence.
     
     
___________________________________________________________
     
     
>>>> Activism keynote of Dublin candidate
     
     
     
     Sinn Fein has announced that Paul Donnelly will
     represent the party in the Dublin North by-election to
     be held next month.
     
     Married to Angela, Paul has four young children, and is
     involved in a wide variety of work to improve the
     quality of life in the area.
     
     The keynote of Paul's work has always been activism.
     
     He initiated a campaign against drugs in Dublin North
     and is Chairperson of his local anti-drugs campaign. He
     is also a community representative on the local drugs
     task force which was recently awarded #780,000 to fight
     the serious drugs problem.
     
     He has worked alongside communities to rid the area
     successfully of several drugs pushers and is working
     towards the provision of facilities to help end
     addiction and prevent young people from taking drugs.
     
     Paul is the health and safety representative of his
     SIPTU trade union in his place of work. He worked in
     Aer Lingus in the early 1990s and is fully aware of the
     problems facing the workers in the company.
     
     Paul has also been very active in initiatives to
     minimise the production of waste and encourage
     recycling. He has opposed the building of a national
     incinerator and the extension of landfill sites in the
     constituency.
     
     He was also involved in the successful campaign against
     the imposition of water/service charges. He has
     consistently called for an amnesty for those who
     defaulted on payment of this double tax.
     
     Paul was unanimously selected to stand for Sinn Fein in
     the forthcoming by-election. Accepting his nomination,
     he said, "The time has come for the parties involved to
     put an end to the weeks and months of speculation and
     set a date for the by-election.
     
     "I am calling on the Fianna Fail and Labour Parties in
     particular to ensure that the election takes place on a
     Friday to allow for the maximum participation of young
     people and not on a Thursday as currently proposed.
     
     Sinn Fein, he said, would be standing on four main
     issues: peace, job creation, environmental protection
     and empowering local communities to fight drugs and
     crime.
     
__________________________________________________________
     
     
>>>> Analysis: The Free World
     
     By Laurence McKeown
     
     
     
     There's a film just out, set in the USA, and starring
     Robert de Niro and Dustin Hoffman, about a woman who is
     making claims of sexual harassment against the
     President.
     
     The media picks up on the story and the President comes
     under a lot of pressure to resign. (Does this sound
     familiar?) One of his aides decides that the best way
     to distract attention from the issue is to have a
     phoney war so he calls in a friend, a Hollywood
     producer, and they set about the task. The "war" is set
     in Albania. Newsreel footage shows all the usual
     paraphernalia of war including refugees fleeing from
     their homes. One young girl abandoning her village
     carries a black dog in her arms. Computer technology
     changes the colour of the dog to white, because the
     president "prefers it to be white".
     
     A country and western singer (Willie Nelson) is even
     released from prision so that he can record patrioic
     songs for the American public to sing during this war.
     Eventually, one FBI official begins to twig that the
     war isn't for real and,..... and I'II say no more in
     case I spoil your enjoyment. In fact I'II say no more
     because I don't know any more about it.
     
     The makers of the film must have leapt for joy when
     Monica Lewinsky appeared on the scene. (Talk about life
     imitating art.) You'd almost be tempted to believe that
     the film's marketing and promotion company invented
     her. I'm sure too that in the real world of politics
     some of Clinton's own advisers must be thinking like de
     Niro and saying that the time is right for a little
     war. After all there is no better way to distract
     attention from the more seamy (or is it steamy?)
     ongoings at home. Whip up a bit of national pride, or
     jingiosm.
     
     Maggie Thatcher did it in the Malvinas. It began with
     sailors on the Belgrano being torpedoed as they sailed
     away from disputed waters. "Gotcha" read the headline
     in the next day's Sun newspaper while the shattered
     fragments of young bodies littered the waters of the
     south Atlantic.
     
     At the moment the same blood lust is being deliberately
     stirred in the USA and, as with the last Gulf war,
     England is there to support its ally. Maybe Robin Cook
     also wants to divert attention from his domestic
     affairs. Like Clinton, his personal life and relations
     have been placed in the spotlight by a right-wing
     controlled media that has its own agenda, an agenda
     which coincides with the financial interests of the
     arms-producing companies. Yes, a war at the moment a
     war would suit a lot of people.
     
     For those living in Iraq the thought of another war
     doesn't frighten them the way some would like to
     believe. They are already living with the hardships of
     the sanctions imposed upon them from the last round of
     hostilities. Incubators for prematurely born babies
     cannot be used because of a lack of proper equipment.
     Thread used for stitching wounds after childbirth is
     unavailable. These are but two of the effects of the
     US-led sanctions.
     
     And that doesn't mean we have to like Saddam or agree
     with his policies, but let's not forget, he was the
     darling of the west just a few years ago. Money, arms
     and intelligence from the CIA flowed to his regime in
     abundance.
     
     Embargoes are meant to cripple countries and get them
     to bend to the will of others. I'm sure it's more than
     a little coincidental that Britain's oil from the North
     Sea sells more and for a higher price when Iraq's is
     boycotted. Meanwhile, back home in the USA Karla Faye
     Tucker, having already served 15 years on death row,
     has gone into the history books as the first woman to
     be officially executed by the state of Texas since the
     civil war. Now there's progress for you. As Neil Young
says "Keep on rocking in the free world". 


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Subject: RMD980209 Irish news for Monday 9 February

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