SEPTEMBER 1999
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 25
NORTHERN IRELAND ROUND-UP
George Mitchell Reviews Tattered Peace Process
BELFAST — Despite a tenuous thread holding the peace process together, Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam ruled on August 26 that the IRA ceasefire remains intact. In a short statement, she said that, although she accepted the IRA was responsible for the "savage and disgraceful" murder of Charles Bennett earlier in the month and was involved in a Florida gun-smuggling plan, she was satisfied that the overall republican ceasefire was still in place.
She chose not to exercise her powers under the Sentences Act, to suspend the early release of IRA prisoners, but said had, "sailed very close to the wind" in making her decision.
The judgement was backed fully by the Irish Government but met with fierce unionist opposition. They asked how many guns could be smuggled, how many punishment beatings could be endured and how many lives expended before a ceasefire was deemed broken?
Hard liners immediately called for her resignation. UUP member Jeffrey Donaldson said Mowlam lacked "the moral courage" to take steps against terrorism. The DUP accused her of "monstrous incompetence," while Mowlam's long-time adversary Ken Maginnis said her judgement was "unbelievably arrogant."
Trimble made the obligatory noises, saying he was "deeply disappointed," but it is widely accepted that he wants Sinn Fein at the table in the upcoming review and has said he will use the three-week procedure to "put the spotlight on the paramilitaries."
A review of the Good Friday Agreement is due to begin shortly, with former United States Senator George Mitchell returning to a political landscape that has
changed little since he exited the scene following the 1998 elections. While Sinn Fein said the ruling was "correct," its members will be under no illusion as to how tough the next few weeks will be.
Meanwhile, the SDLP has said that the former deputy, First Minister Seamus Mallon, will not return to the post from which he resigned on July 15. In reaction to a call by the First Minister, who said he hoped Mallon would, "reconsider his position," a party spokesperson said Mallon's "reasons for resignation have not changed."
Life became no easier for Mowlam when it was reported that the IRA had ordered four teenage boys to leave the country or be shot dead. The message was delivered to the youths, all from the same housing estate in Dungannon, by a local priest. He was called to a house in the town where he was spoken to by two masked men. Somewhere along the line, it was said that the four had ignored previous warnings about their "anti-social behaviour."
This development was condemned by all sides, with unionists again claiming that it was a breach of the ceasefire. The Northern Secretary also had to condemn it and said that she was keeping the situation under review. It would appear that the only people who supported the threat were the people living in or near the Dungannon housing estate.
According to Ireland on Sunday, they say the warning is long overdue as the five have been responsible for a spate of crime, including burglaries and car theft. It is understood that the four youths are now in London and it is claimed that two of them, brothers aged 16 and 18, are in the "care" of a Scottish newspaper.
— The Irish News
Omagh Remembers
OMAGH, County Tyrone — The first anniversary of the Omagh bomb was marked on August 15 with a service of remembrance in the town.
Thousands of people, including survivors, the bereaved, local dignitaries and politicians, attended the open-air service which ended with a minute's silence at 3:10 PM, the time the bomb exploded.
The "Real IRA" bomb exploded on a busy Saturday afternoon, killing 39 people and two unborn children. Some 350 people were physically injured and 400 more are still receiving trauma counselling. Shops in the town closed as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives.
A service was also held in Buncrana, County Donegal where they remembered in particular the three local children who died and the two Spanish victims who had been visiting them. Two memorial services were also held in the
Pro-Cathedral in Dublin and prayers were said in churches throughout the country. A minute's silence was also observed at Croke Park before the Kilkenny-Clare hurling match.
A joint Garda/RUC investigation team has interviewed 4,000 people about the atrocity but have said their main difficulty lies with "people in south Armagh and Dundalk who know about the bomb but are not prepared to talk to die RUC".
So far one man, Colin Murphy (46), a County Armagh-born publican who lives in County Louth, has been charged in relation to the atrocity.
Security forces on both sides of the border maintain the inquiry has not been scaled down and relatives of those who died may take comfort from the fact that a senior British police officer is due in the North to review the progress of the inquiry.
RIOTING MARKS 30 YEARS OF TROUBLE
DERRY — The annual Apprentice Boys' parade went ahead in Derry on August 14 after being sanctioned by the Parades Commission. The decision, however, led to the most serious rioting experienced this year.
The parade is considered one of the most contentious in the annual Loyal Order marching season. In 1969, the Apprentice Boys' march sparked the Battle of the Bogside and is now seen as the catalyst for the beginning of the Troubles. This is the thirtieth anniversary of the arrival of the first British troops in Northern Ireland.
Prior to the march, residents and Apprentice Boys' representatives held lengthy talks which were mediated by local businessmen, but these failed to produce an accommodation. Hopes that some middle ground could be reached were set back when the Parades Commission sanctioned a feeder parade along Belfast's lower Ormeau Road.
Commission chairman Alistair Graham cited evidence of "real dialogue" between the Apprentice Boys and local residents when giving the go-ahead. Nationalists were angry at the move, arguing that the Apprentice Boys were being rewarded for merely going through the motions of engaging in talks while being unwilling to make any concessions.
Residents' leaders decided that an attempt would be made to block the parade route by organizing a mass rally. Commenting on the decision, Lower Ormeau Concerned Community (LOCC) spokesperson Gerard Rice said residents were "bitterly disappointed" and had no option but to undertake a "peaceful but determined and effective protest."
Graham said protests would only
serve to "confirm the worst fears lf\^f
of unionists that residents groups l^^kZ
are a front for Sinn Fein." Mean- f^J/j
while, Church leaders appealed to I
both marchers and protesters to wltX^
be mindful of the Omagh anniver- Py^v
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On the evening prior to the march, about 200 nationalist residents
Hume Rushed to Hospital
assembled on the lower Ormeau Road to begin an overnight protest. Traffic was not impeded until about 5:30 AM when the protesters sat down on the road in a closely packed mass, making it difficult for the RUC to move them.
In the end, however, the residents were no match for the hundreds of police officers, dressed in riot gear, who moved in withiii the hour. The scuffles which took place were fairly robust and it was at this point that claims of unnecessary force were made.
LOCC spokesman Gerard Rice was outraged and accused one officer of deliberately breaking a bottle on the road and then dragging protesters over the broken glass. By the time the 18 members of the Ballynafeigh Apprentice Boys, and their 17 bandsmen, marched past after 8 AM, protesters were hemmed into side streets by police Land Rovers.
The morning news bulletins did
not bode well for the main parade in Derry. It started with a token march around the city walls, part of which overlooks the Bogside. This was followed with 10,000 Apprentice Boys making their way from the Waterside area of the city, across the Craigavon Bridge, around the Diamond and back to the Waterside.
While the local residents group staged a peaceful protest, there were others at the edge of the Bogside throwing petrol bombs at police lines. At least one truck was set on fire and, according to the RUC, some 130 petrol bombs were thrown.
The crowds were eventually dispersed, but the trouble flared again in Waterloo Square after midnight as the patrons of pubs and clubs poured out on to the streets. Cars were hi-jacked and set alight. Numerous premises, including four banks, were damaged in arson attacks. This time the RUC estimated that 200 petrol bombs were thrown at them and a further hundred were recovered before they could be used.
The next morning, 11 people appeared in court in Limavady where they were charged with riotous behaviour. While Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness criticised the Parades Commission, he also had harsh words for those involved in the violence.
— The Irish Emigrant
' The Uni
corn
BELFAST — SDLP leader John Hume underwent three hours of emergency surgery for a perforated intestine on August 29. He was due to deliver a keynote speech on the future of Europe in Austria when he fell ill and was rushed to emergency.
People close to the SDLP leader had said he had been ill for some time in advance of the episode. He has now been moved out of intensive care and is expected to return home within 10 to 14 days.
Goodwill messages flooded in from around the world when it emerged Hume had fallen ill. His illness means he will miss the beginning of George Mitchell's review of the Good Friday Agreement. Deputy SDLP leader Seamus Mallon will stand in for Hume. — The Irish News
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