scarface
12-19-2007, 09:23 PM
Irish Republican Information Service (no. 130)
In this issue:
1. RSF oppose EU Constitution
2. White-line picket held on Falls Road
3. Successful function held in Lurgan
4. Loyalist attack on schoolboy
5. GAA condemns Derry bomb hoaxes
6. McGurk's bar owner dies
7. RUC/PSNI: 'The thought police'
8. Crumlin plans must be opposed
9. Aer Lingus jettisons greetings as Gaeilge
10. British colonial police forced back into flak jackets
11. New grouping has LVF links
1. RSF OPPOSE EU CONSTITUTION
REPUBLICAN Sinn Féin Vice-President Des Dalton said in a statement that RSF would be campaigning against the ratification of the proposed EU constitution in the 26-County referendum next year.
“Republican Sinn Féin, just as we have in each referenda on the EU since 1972 will be actively campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in next year’s referendum on the EU Constitution. The entire EU project is fundamentally undemocratic; eroding the rights of states, placing the power of decision making in the hands of unelected and unaccountable officials, the imposition of water rates on schools a recent glaring example of the unaccountable power of Brussels. The EU Constitution, despite the cynical attempt to fool people by calling it a treaty, marks one of the final steps in the creation of an undemocratic, militarised super-state
“The comments of EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy on December 3 that the Irish people would be ‘the laughing stock of Europe’ if they reject the EU constitution exposes the arrogance and patronising attitude to the Irish people of the political elite. Neither the French or Dutch people were so described when they rejected the EU constitution in 2004.
“By rejecting the EU constitution, the people of the 26-Counties far from being a ‘laughing stock’ would be giving a lead as well as representing the views of people throughout the EU who are being denied an opportunity to voice their opposition to the creation of an EU super state. In the case of the French and Dutch people their views as expressed in their respective referenda in 2004 are being ignored. This is not unique to France and Holland; the democratically expressed views of the people of the 26-Counties were ignored in 2001 when they rejected the Nice Treaty.
“Republican Sinn Féin is calling on people who are serious about building a society based on real economic and political democracy, worker’s rights and equitable distribution of wealth, who believe in national democracy, who support neutrality and oppose involvement in imperialist wars, to join the campaign to reject the EU constitution.” Des Dalton said.
2. WHITE-LINE PICKET HELD ON FALLS ROAD
DESPITE adverse weather conditions, a large crowd turned out on the Falls Road in Belfast on Saturday, December 8, in support of the demands of Republican POWs in Maghaberry jai for full political status. The protest was organised by the Republican Prisoners' Action Group (RPAG).
Those present assembled along the white-line in the centre of the road with placards, and distributed several hundred leaflets to passing motorists. The leaflets outlined the conditions faced by the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry, and highlighted their demands. Many passers-by signalled their support for the prisoners.
The RPAG are grateful for the support received for the prisoners, and ask that people keep them in their thoughts over Christmas, and make a donation to CABHAIR (Irish Republican Prisoners' Dependants' Fund).
3. SUCCESSFUL FUNCTION HELD IN LURGAN
A VERY successful function was held in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, on the night of Friday, December 7. It was organised by the Thomas Harte Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin Lurgan, and proceeds went to the Republican prisoners. During the course of the evening prison crafts were raffled, and those present were entertained by a local band. A statement was also read on behalf of the Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail.
It read:
”On behalf of the Republican Prisoners here in Maghaberry Concentration Camp we send our best wishes to you, our families and friends. Here in this place we are mindful of our Cause and know that we are Political Prisoners despite the attempts of the Brits and their fellow travellers to criminalise us. Daily they attempt to remove our political status, but we assure you that in this they will never succeed! We stand firm in our belief in the Republic, despite attempts by our former comrades to copper-fasten British rule in our country.
“We here in prison will continue to play our part in the fight for Freedom and we know that you, our comrades, will never bend a knee either to the Brits or the Provos.
“Tonight we salute you, and thank you for your continued support. We hope that your night is a great success, and would like to finish by wishing you all the compliments of the season:
“Beannachtaí na Nollaig daoibh go léir.
“Victory to the Republican Movement! An Phoblacht Abú!
“O/C Republican POWs, Maghaberry.”
4. LOYALIST ATTACK ON SCHOOLBOY
AN attack on a 12-year-old schoolboy in Stoneyford, Co Antrim on December 15 was linked to a loyalist campaign against a nationalist family in the area.
The boy and his 13-year-old friend were walking through Stoneyford shortly before 6.30pm when three men attacked them. While one of the boys managed to run off, the other was attacked and threatened. His attackers made off in a dark-coloured car.
Locals said that the attackers' intended victim was the 13-year-old son of a nationalist family who earlier this month were warned by the RUCPSNI that they were to be shot by loyalists.
The incident is the latest in a series of sectarian attacks on the family, which has already forced them to leave one house in the village. However the family, who were too afraid to be identified, have now demanded an urgent meeting with RUC/PSNIChief Constable Sir Hugh Orde over claims that the loyalist orchestrating the attacks is being protected from prosecution.
“Before Thursday night it was threats and attacks on our homes but now they are trying to abduct my son and his friends,” the 13-year-old's father said. “We have made countless complaints to the police and have installed all sorts of security around our home.
“This thug has already been charged with threatening my family but I was convinced to drop the charges against him to try and improve community relations in the village. He's already managed to intimidate countless Catholic families from this village. He gets arrested but always seems to get released without charge.”
6. GAA CONDEMNS DERRY BOMB HOAXES
THE chairman of the GAA in Co Derry condemned those behind a series of bomb hoaxes on December 13.
Seamus McCloy says the GAA community in Derry will not be put off by the threats.
The RUC/PSNI carried out searches of every ground in the city after it received telephone warnings about devices, but nothing was found.
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A hoax device was also found in Randalstown in Co Antrim and the British colonial police also carried out searches at grounds in Coalisland, Armagh and Dungannon.
On the same day a viable pipe bomb was defused at a Gaelic football pitch in Co Down.
A bomb warning was made around 9pm, claiming a device had been left on the ground at the club on the Ballela Road in Banbridge, Co Down.
British Army bomb disposal experts were summoned when the device was discovered and declared it viable.
7. McGURK'S BAR OWNER DIES
PATRICK McGurk, the owner of McGurk's bar where 15 people were killed by a UVF bomb in 1971, died on December 15. He was 86 years old. His wife and his 14-year-old daughter were among those killed in the north Belfast bomb.
Fifteen people, including two children and three women died in what was one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles.
The fact that explosion in the nationalist bar was blamed on the IRA added to the pain felt by the bereaved. In 1977, a UVF man confessed to it.
The driver of the getaway car admitted his part in the attack and it became clear that it was carried out by loyalist death squad the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
The driver received 15 life sentences and remains the only person ever to have been convicted in relation to the explosion.
Patrick McGurk and his three sons were also injured in the blast.
A memorial was unveiled on the Queen Street site of the bar in 2001 to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing.
It was the first major atrocity of the Troubles coming week's before Bloody Sunday. Parishioners coming from Mass at St Patrick's Church on Donegall Street paid little attention to the men in the car parked close to McGurk's Bar on North Queen Street.
Some people stopped to buy a newspaper from a young boy standing on the pavement outside McGurk's Bar before making their way home.
The eight-year-old became curious about the waiting car, which had a small Union Jack sticker on the back windscreen. As he looked on a man got out of the vehicle and carried a large box over to the door of the bar. The boy saw the man light something in the box and then run to the car, which sped off in the direction of loyalist York Street. The boy ran over to the door where he saw sparks coming from the box.
In panic he ran shouting to a man nearby that there was a bomb in the doorway.
Seconds later the pair were lifted off their feet by the force of the blast. Within seconds McGurk's Bar lay in ruins, torn apart by 40 pounds of explosive. Fifteen people were dead and a further 16 injured. Those killed included schoolchildren and pensioners.
All of the customers were from North Queen Street and were regulars at McGurk's – one of the most respected families in the area.
The British army initially claimed that the explosion had been an IRA own goal and that the bomb was being made in the bar when it prematurely exploded.
It was a lie that for many years caused huge pain to the families of those murdered.
The McGurk family had lived in the two storeys above the bar. It was an old building which, when the bomb went off, crumpled like a deck of cards.
In 1996 Patrick McGurk's son John, who was 10 years of age at the time, vividly recalled the explosion that killed his mother and sister.
“It was sometime between 8pm and 8.30pm and I was in the sitting room of our house which would have been the room above the bar. If you had put your ear to the floor you could hear the noise from the bar. It really wasn't a case of lights going off – it was like something out of a really bad horror film.
“I remember tumbling in air and space amid this massive rush of wind and noise. It must have been just a matter of seconds. I couldn't remember anything else because I must have been unconscious for a while but I don't know how long it was.”
Despite lying trapped beneath a wall of concrete John escaped with just a minor injury.
“It was miraculous for me because a person – Jimmy – who was just a few feet away from me was killed. I woke up and I really didn't know what had happened. There was then the realisation that the building had collapsed and I was stuck. I wasn't physically injured. The only injury I had was an injured finger but that was it.”
The 10-year-old lay beneath the wall in darkness, with dust and sediment from the destroyed bar falling onto his face and into his mouth. He prayed. Then out of the silence he heard voices and people ploughing through the mass of rubble.
He began shouting and soon after there was a voice above him, moving debris.
“It's the tragedy of Northern Ireland that a few years later the man who saved me, a man called O'Hanlon, was picked up by a loyalist murder gang at Carlisle Circus coming back from a chip shop and murdered,” John said.
“The worst thing about it was that I'm nearly sure that I heard my sister crying for help because there wouldn't have been any other young female stuck there. It's possible that it was my imagination. It's possible that she was already dead but that's what I remember.”
It had been thought that Philomena and Maria McGurk hadn't been in the house at the time. They usually went to the Saturday vigil Mass in St Patrick's. That night they returned just before the bomb exploded.
However, for John McGurk there was comfort in having his father, Patrick, with him on the ambulance journey to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital, where doctors examined him and gave him the all-clear.
It wasn't until the following day that he was told about the deaths of his mother and sister.
Expressing admiration for his father's reaction to the bombing and its aftermath, John said: “I remember he went on the television. I know that people can be critical of people going on TV and saying they forgive the people who carried out an atrocity. But he was one of the first people to do that and he genuinely meant what he said because he is a decent, Catholic, Christian man.”
Only one person was ever convicted for their part in the massacre. In 1978 Robert James Campbell, a self-confessed UVF man was given 16 life sentences for the bomb attack
Those who died in McGurk's Bar:
Philomena McGurk (46), Maria McGurk (14), James Cromie (13), John Colton (49), Thomas McLaughlin (55), David Milligan (52), James Smyth (58), Francis Bradley (61), Thomas Kane (49), Kathleen Irvine (53), Philip Garry (75), Edward Kane (29), Edward Keenan (69), Sarah Keenan (58), Robert Spotswood (38).
8. RUC/PSNI: 'THE THOUGHT POLICE'
ONE of four men arrested and questioned about the recent shooting of a member of the British colonial police Jim Doherty has accused the RUC/PSNI of acting like the 'thought police'.
The man, who asked not to be identified, said he was arrested on December 13 and taken to Antrim RUC/PSNI Station where he was told he was being held in connection with the shooting of a member of the British colonial police.
He added: “I told them that I was at work that morning and that there was about 60 to 70 people who could tell them that. The best about it was that I don’t even work in Derry so I wasn’t even in the city when the shooting happened.
“They kept telling me that they had evidence to connect me to the shooting and, when they were asked to produce it, they said they would do so later but they never did. I have to say the whole thing was very vague and they never asked me anything concrete except to account for my movements which I did.”
He went on: “What I did find very disturbing was the stuff they took from my home and then questioned me about. They produced a copy of Bobby Sand’s Diary and they brought it in a forensic bag as if it was vital evidence. Then they produced two memory sticks from my children’s school work. I don’t think they even looked at them as one had my child’s Bebo stuff on it and the other was the other child’s project work.
“Again these were all wrapped up in plastic as if they were vital evidence. Then they produced another book in a plastic bag as if there was something wrong with reading about old republicans. They also took away all my mobile phones. I can only think it is to make my life as difficult as possible.”
The man went on: “I would describe myself as someone who might not agree with the current political direction but is it a crime now to hold a different opinion from other people? This really is the thought police when the books you read can be used against you. They also took away my car and this I believe was done to try and get me to lose my job.”
The man was held for two days before eventually being released without charge.
Paddy McDaid, one of four men arrested, claims the RUC/PSNI had no evidence against him and were reduced to quoting from a page on Wikipedia. the online encyclopaedia.
He said: “The RUC/PSNI had absolutely no evidence against me to connect me to this shooting and they never asked me to go on an ID parade or anything like that. All they seemed to be interested in was harassing me and my family as much as possible. They raided three
houses belonging to people with the same name as me and then they arrested me while I walked through the Bogside.”
Another of those arrested, Gary Donnelly, says it seems the RUC/PSNI was intent on targeting those families which disagreed with the normalisation of British rule in the Six-Counties.
He said: “I was taken to Antrim at high speed where I was forced to sit in the car for a couple of hours before being processed - so I can’t see what all the rush was about. When they eventually got around to questioning me, it was ridiculous. They did not know Derry, they didn’t even know anything about me.”
Gary Donnelly said he was asked about a poem found in his house and a receipt for money signed in to a prisoner. He said: “This is clearly an attempt to criminalise republicans. Is it a crime to have a poem? Is it a crime to sign money into a prisoner? All this breaking down doors and stuff is ridiculous.”
9. CRUMLIN PLANS MUST BE OPPOSED
ON December 15 Republican Sinn Féin expressed concern at the announcement that the RUC are to be incorporated within the community centre in Crumlin, Co. Antrim.
The RUC will seek, in the words of Dolores Kelly, to become an integral part of the Crumlin community.
RSF Publicity Officer, Richard Walsh, said This is a very dangerous development which must be opposed. The British Colonial Police will place so-called 'community officers' amongst the youth of Crumlin in an attempt to present themselves as part of the community.
It is unsurprising that Provo councillor Annemarie Logue stated that she would 'continue to be available to provide any assistance' for what she called 'the exciting time ahead'.
We call on the people of Crumlin to reject these plans which are intended to increase the intelligence-gathering capacity of the RUC in the area.
10. AER LINGUS JETTISONS GREETINGS AS GAEILGE
GO mbeannaí Dia daoibh, tá fáilte romhaibh ar bord na heitilte seo – or hello and welcome to your flight is the familiar greeting you'll hear when flying Aer Lingus to anywhere except Belfast.
The Dublin-based airline has ditched its familiar Irish-language greeting because it might upset passengers flying to and from Belfast. Aer Lingus launched services from Belfast earlier this week.
Executives at the highest level took the decision not to use Irish on board flights from the city because they might be politically contentious.
Since August, when Aer Lingus announced its plans for Belfast at Stormont in the presence of First Minister Ian Paisley, senior airline officials have been embroiled in a number of battles.
Trade unions in the 26 Counties threatened strike action over the terms and conditions being offered to Belfast employees while the decision to axe Heathrow services from Shannon to allow Aldergrove services to start caused a storm in the west.
The emerald green planes in Belfast have the familiar shamrock, national symbol of Ireland, on their tail fins.
The uniforms are still predominantly green and the inflight magazine is called Cara – friend in Irish. The first Aldergrove-based planes also carry on the tradition of being named after saints – Saint Ciara and Saint Flannan.
However, in Belfast, cabin crew will not welcome you on board with a friendly Irish greeting.
Irish is an officially recognised “minority language” in the Six Counties where more than 10% of the population claim to have some knowledge of the language.
On December 14 Richard Walsh, RSF National Publicity officer said the decision by Aer Lingus to remove Irish-language greetings from their flights in and out of Aldergrove was based upon the lie that there are two Irelands.
“Aer Lingus sought to treat Aldergrove as a 'foreign base' when negotiating contracts for staff based there, despite the fact that it is situated on Irish soil. Once again they are shamefully treating County Antrim as a foreign place through their refusal to use the National language on flights in and out of the airport.
“We in Republican Sinn Féin do not accept the lie that there are two Irelands. Nor do we agree that workers in the 26-Counties should be entitled to higher pay than those in the Six Occupied Counties. Aer Lingus have long claimed to be the National carrier, but their actions in relation to their new Aldergrove hub shows that they have only self-interest rather than the National interest at heart.”
11. BRITISH COLONIAL POLICE FORCED BACK INTO FLAK JACKETS
THE British colonial police in Belfast have been forced back into their flak jackets because of increased resistance to British occupation.
The British colonial police in Greater Belfast have been told to put the body armour back on because several have been targeted over the last few weeks.
The move is a setback for the programme to demilitarise British policing in the Six-Counties. Until the recent upsurge in resistance to British rule, the RUC/PSNI patrolled Belfast without flak jackets and travelled in cars without armour. Two were shot in Derry and Dungannon in November.
The attacks were carried out to coincide with the handing over of intelligence gathering on resistance to British occupation from the RUC/PSNI special branch to MI5.
MI5 operate from a new £20m hi-tech building inside the British army’s Palace barracks in Holywood.
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12. NEW GROUPING HAS LVF LINKS
A SHADOWY group claiming to be made up of disillusioned republicans has members of a leading loyalist family with LVF connections in its ranks.
The so-called Irish Republican Liberation Army (IRLA) has been issuing death threats to members of the Provisionals. The Belfast-based newspaper The Irish News reported that the gang masquerading as the IRLA is in fact made up of members of a loyalist family from Co Antrim with LVF connections and two drug dealers from a nationalist area in north Belfast.
The revelation came as the shooting of a 28-year-old man on the Ballyhill Road in Co Antrim on December 9 was also being linked to the LVF.
Stuart Hill was shot in the head and back in the gun attack that happened at around 8.40pm.
Hill had been involved in a fall out with the loyalist death squad in 2006 and had moved into the Westland estate in north Belfast under the protection of former UDA boss Alan McClean.
Sources say that Hill survived the gun attack only because he was wearing a bullet-proof vest at the time.
He told the RUC/PSNI that he had been walking along the Ballyhill Road when a car pulled up alongside him and one of the passengers opened fire
Pictures of two masked men claiming to be members of the IRLA were circulated to the press last week, accompanied by a statement saying anyone giving information to the RUC/PSNI would be treated as informers.
ENDS
In this issue:
1. RSF oppose EU Constitution
2. White-line picket held on Falls Road
3. Successful function held in Lurgan
4. Loyalist attack on schoolboy
5. GAA condemns Derry bomb hoaxes
6. McGurk's bar owner dies
7. RUC/PSNI: 'The thought police'
8. Crumlin plans must be opposed
9. Aer Lingus jettisons greetings as Gaeilge
10. British colonial police forced back into flak jackets
11. New grouping has LVF links
1. RSF OPPOSE EU CONSTITUTION
REPUBLICAN Sinn Féin Vice-President Des Dalton said in a statement that RSF would be campaigning against the ratification of the proposed EU constitution in the 26-County referendum next year.
“Republican Sinn Féin, just as we have in each referenda on the EU since 1972 will be actively campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in next year’s referendum on the EU Constitution. The entire EU project is fundamentally undemocratic; eroding the rights of states, placing the power of decision making in the hands of unelected and unaccountable officials, the imposition of water rates on schools a recent glaring example of the unaccountable power of Brussels. The EU Constitution, despite the cynical attempt to fool people by calling it a treaty, marks one of the final steps in the creation of an undemocratic, militarised super-state
“The comments of EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy on December 3 that the Irish people would be ‘the laughing stock of Europe’ if they reject the EU constitution exposes the arrogance and patronising attitude to the Irish people of the political elite. Neither the French or Dutch people were so described when they rejected the EU constitution in 2004.
“By rejecting the EU constitution, the people of the 26-Counties far from being a ‘laughing stock’ would be giving a lead as well as representing the views of people throughout the EU who are being denied an opportunity to voice their opposition to the creation of an EU super state. In the case of the French and Dutch people their views as expressed in their respective referenda in 2004 are being ignored. This is not unique to France and Holland; the democratically expressed views of the people of the 26-Counties were ignored in 2001 when they rejected the Nice Treaty.
“Republican Sinn Féin is calling on people who are serious about building a society based on real economic and political democracy, worker’s rights and equitable distribution of wealth, who believe in national democracy, who support neutrality and oppose involvement in imperialist wars, to join the campaign to reject the EU constitution.” Des Dalton said.
2. WHITE-LINE PICKET HELD ON FALLS ROAD
DESPITE adverse weather conditions, a large crowd turned out on the Falls Road in Belfast on Saturday, December 8, in support of the demands of Republican POWs in Maghaberry jai for full political status. The protest was organised by the Republican Prisoners' Action Group (RPAG).
Those present assembled along the white-line in the centre of the road with placards, and distributed several hundred leaflets to passing motorists. The leaflets outlined the conditions faced by the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry, and highlighted their demands. Many passers-by signalled their support for the prisoners.
The RPAG are grateful for the support received for the prisoners, and ask that people keep them in their thoughts over Christmas, and make a donation to CABHAIR (Irish Republican Prisoners' Dependants' Fund).
3. SUCCESSFUL FUNCTION HELD IN LURGAN
A VERY successful function was held in Lurgan, Co. Armagh, on the night of Friday, December 7. It was organised by the Thomas Harte Cumann, Republican Sinn Féin Lurgan, and proceeds went to the Republican prisoners. During the course of the evening prison crafts were raffled, and those present were entertained by a local band. A statement was also read on behalf of the Republican POWs in Maghaberry jail.
It read:
”On behalf of the Republican Prisoners here in Maghaberry Concentration Camp we send our best wishes to you, our families and friends. Here in this place we are mindful of our Cause and know that we are Political Prisoners despite the attempts of the Brits and their fellow travellers to criminalise us. Daily they attempt to remove our political status, but we assure you that in this they will never succeed! We stand firm in our belief in the Republic, despite attempts by our former comrades to copper-fasten British rule in our country.
“We here in prison will continue to play our part in the fight for Freedom and we know that you, our comrades, will never bend a knee either to the Brits or the Provos.
“Tonight we salute you, and thank you for your continued support. We hope that your night is a great success, and would like to finish by wishing you all the compliments of the season:
“Beannachtaí na Nollaig daoibh go léir.
“Victory to the Republican Movement! An Phoblacht Abú!
“O/C Republican POWs, Maghaberry.”
4. LOYALIST ATTACK ON SCHOOLBOY
AN attack on a 12-year-old schoolboy in Stoneyford, Co Antrim on December 15 was linked to a loyalist campaign against a nationalist family in the area.
The boy and his 13-year-old friend were walking through Stoneyford shortly before 6.30pm when three men attacked them. While one of the boys managed to run off, the other was attacked and threatened. His attackers made off in a dark-coloured car.
Locals said that the attackers' intended victim was the 13-year-old son of a nationalist family who earlier this month were warned by the RUCPSNI that they were to be shot by loyalists.
The incident is the latest in a series of sectarian attacks on the family, which has already forced them to leave one house in the village. However the family, who were too afraid to be identified, have now demanded an urgent meeting with RUC/PSNIChief Constable Sir Hugh Orde over claims that the loyalist orchestrating the attacks is being protected from prosecution.
“Before Thursday night it was threats and attacks on our homes but now they are trying to abduct my son and his friends,” the 13-year-old's father said. “We have made countless complaints to the police and have installed all sorts of security around our home.
“This thug has already been charged with threatening my family but I was convinced to drop the charges against him to try and improve community relations in the village. He's already managed to intimidate countless Catholic families from this village. He gets arrested but always seems to get released without charge.”
6. GAA CONDEMNS DERRY BOMB HOAXES
THE chairman of the GAA in Co Derry condemned those behind a series of bomb hoaxes on December 13.
Seamus McCloy says the GAA community in Derry will not be put off by the threats.
The RUC/PSNI carried out searches of every ground in the city after it received telephone warnings about devices, but nothing was found.
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A hoax device was also found in Randalstown in Co Antrim and the British colonial police also carried out searches at grounds in Coalisland, Armagh and Dungannon.
On the same day a viable pipe bomb was defused at a Gaelic football pitch in Co Down.
A bomb warning was made around 9pm, claiming a device had been left on the ground at the club on the Ballela Road in Banbridge, Co Down.
British Army bomb disposal experts were summoned when the device was discovered and declared it viable.
7. McGURK'S BAR OWNER DIES
PATRICK McGurk, the owner of McGurk's bar where 15 people were killed by a UVF bomb in 1971, died on December 15. He was 86 years old. His wife and his 14-year-old daughter were among those killed in the north Belfast bomb.
Fifteen people, including two children and three women died in what was one of the worst atrocities of the Troubles.
The fact that explosion in the nationalist bar was blamed on the IRA added to the pain felt by the bereaved. In 1977, a UVF man confessed to it.
The driver of the getaway car admitted his part in the attack and it became clear that it was carried out by loyalist death squad the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
The driver received 15 life sentences and remains the only person ever to have been convicted in relation to the explosion.
Patrick McGurk and his three sons were also injured in the blast.
A memorial was unveiled on the Queen Street site of the bar in 2001 to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing.
It was the first major atrocity of the Troubles coming week's before Bloody Sunday. Parishioners coming from Mass at St Patrick's Church on Donegall Street paid little attention to the men in the car parked close to McGurk's Bar on North Queen Street.
Some people stopped to buy a newspaper from a young boy standing on the pavement outside McGurk's Bar before making their way home.
The eight-year-old became curious about the waiting car, which had a small Union Jack sticker on the back windscreen. As he looked on a man got out of the vehicle and carried a large box over to the door of the bar. The boy saw the man light something in the box and then run to the car, which sped off in the direction of loyalist York Street. The boy ran over to the door where he saw sparks coming from the box.
In panic he ran shouting to a man nearby that there was a bomb in the doorway.
Seconds later the pair were lifted off their feet by the force of the blast. Within seconds McGurk's Bar lay in ruins, torn apart by 40 pounds of explosive. Fifteen people were dead and a further 16 injured. Those killed included schoolchildren and pensioners.
All of the customers were from North Queen Street and were regulars at McGurk's – one of the most respected families in the area.
The British army initially claimed that the explosion had been an IRA own goal and that the bomb was being made in the bar when it prematurely exploded.
It was a lie that for many years caused huge pain to the families of those murdered.
The McGurk family had lived in the two storeys above the bar. It was an old building which, when the bomb went off, crumpled like a deck of cards.
In 1996 Patrick McGurk's son John, who was 10 years of age at the time, vividly recalled the explosion that killed his mother and sister.
“It was sometime between 8pm and 8.30pm and I was in the sitting room of our house which would have been the room above the bar. If you had put your ear to the floor you could hear the noise from the bar. It really wasn't a case of lights going off – it was like something out of a really bad horror film.
“I remember tumbling in air and space amid this massive rush of wind and noise. It must have been just a matter of seconds. I couldn't remember anything else because I must have been unconscious for a while but I don't know how long it was.”
Despite lying trapped beneath a wall of concrete John escaped with just a minor injury.
“It was miraculous for me because a person – Jimmy – who was just a few feet away from me was killed. I woke up and I really didn't know what had happened. There was then the realisation that the building had collapsed and I was stuck. I wasn't physically injured. The only injury I had was an injured finger but that was it.”
The 10-year-old lay beneath the wall in darkness, with dust and sediment from the destroyed bar falling onto his face and into his mouth. He prayed. Then out of the silence he heard voices and people ploughing through the mass of rubble.
He began shouting and soon after there was a voice above him, moving debris.
“It's the tragedy of Northern Ireland that a few years later the man who saved me, a man called O'Hanlon, was picked up by a loyalist murder gang at Carlisle Circus coming back from a chip shop and murdered,” John said.
“The worst thing about it was that I'm nearly sure that I heard my sister crying for help because there wouldn't have been any other young female stuck there. It's possible that it was my imagination. It's possible that she was already dead but that's what I remember.”
It had been thought that Philomena and Maria McGurk hadn't been in the house at the time. They usually went to the Saturday vigil Mass in St Patrick's. That night they returned just before the bomb exploded.
However, for John McGurk there was comfort in having his father, Patrick, with him on the ambulance journey to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital, where doctors examined him and gave him the all-clear.
It wasn't until the following day that he was told about the deaths of his mother and sister.
Expressing admiration for his father's reaction to the bombing and its aftermath, John said: “I remember he went on the television. I know that people can be critical of people going on TV and saying they forgive the people who carried out an atrocity. But he was one of the first people to do that and he genuinely meant what he said because he is a decent, Catholic, Christian man.”
Only one person was ever convicted for their part in the massacre. In 1978 Robert James Campbell, a self-confessed UVF man was given 16 life sentences for the bomb attack
Those who died in McGurk's Bar:
Philomena McGurk (46), Maria McGurk (14), James Cromie (13), John Colton (49), Thomas McLaughlin (55), David Milligan (52), James Smyth (58), Francis Bradley (61), Thomas Kane (49), Kathleen Irvine (53), Philip Garry (75), Edward Kane (29), Edward Keenan (69), Sarah Keenan (58), Robert Spotswood (38).
8. RUC/PSNI: 'THE THOUGHT POLICE'
ONE of four men arrested and questioned about the recent shooting of a member of the British colonial police Jim Doherty has accused the RUC/PSNI of acting like the 'thought police'.
The man, who asked not to be identified, said he was arrested on December 13 and taken to Antrim RUC/PSNI Station where he was told he was being held in connection with the shooting of a member of the British colonial police.
He added: “I told them that I was at work that morning and that there was about 60 to 70 people who could tell them that. The best about it was that I don’t even work in Derry so I wasn’t even in the city when the shooting happened.
“They kept telling me that they had evidence to connect me to the shooting and, when they were asked to produce it, they said they would do so later but they never did. I have to say the whole thing was very vague and they never asked me anything concrete except to account for my movements which I did.”
He went on: “What I did find very disturbing was the stuff they took from my home and then questioned me about. They produced a copy of Bobby Sand’s Diary and they brought it in a forensic bag as if it was vital evidence. Then they produced two memory sticks from my children’s school work. I don’t think they even looked at them as one had my child’s Bebo stuff on it and the other was the other child’s project work.
“Again these were all wrapped up in plastic as if they were vital evidence. Then they produced another book in a plastic bag as if there was something wrong with reading about old republicans. They also took away all my mobile phones. I can only think it is to make my life as difficult as possible.”
The man went on: “I would describe myself as someone who might not agree with the current political direction but is it a crime now to hold a different opinion from other people? This really is the thought police when the books you read can be used against you. They also took away my car and this I believe was done to try and get me to lose my job.”
The man was held for two days before eventually being released without charge.
Paddy McDaid, one of four men arrested, claims the RUC/PSNI had no evidence against him and were reduced to quoting from a page on Wikipedia. the online encyclopaedia.
He said: “The RUC/PSNI had absolutely no evidence against me to connect me to this shooting and they never asked me to go on an ID parade or anything like that. All they seemed to be interested in was harassing me and my family as much as possible. They raided three
houses belonging to people with the same name as me and then they arrested me while I walked through the Bogside.”
Another of those arrested, Gary Donnelly, says it seems the RUC/PSNI was intent on targeting those families which disagreed with the normalisation of British rule in the Six-Counties.
He said: “I was taken to Antrim at high speed where I was forced to sit in the car for a couple of hours before being processed - so I can’t see what all the rush was about. When they eventually got around to questioning me, it was ridiculous. They did not know Derry, they didn’t even know anything about me.”
Gary Donnelly said he was asked about a poem found in his house and a receipt for money signed in to a prisoner. He said: “This is clearly an attempt to criminalise republicans. Is it a crime to have a poem? Is it a crime to sign money into a prisoner? All this breaking down doors and stuff is ridiculous.”
9. CRUMLIN PLANS MUST BE OPPOSED
ON December 15 Republican Sinn Féin expressed concern at the announcement that the RUC are to be incorporated within the community centre in Crumlin, Co. Antrim.
The RUC will seek, in the words of Dolores Kelly, to become an integral part of the Crumlin community.
RSF Publicity Officer, Richard Walsh, said This is a very dangerous development which must be opposed. The British Colonial Police will place so-called 'community officers' amongst the youth of Crumlin in an attempt to present themselves as part of the community.
It is unsurprising that Provo councillor Annemarie Logue stated that she would 'continue to be available to provide any assistance' for what she called 'the exciting time ahead'.
We call on the people of Crumlin to reject these plans which are intended to increase the intelligence-gathering capacity of the RUC in the area.
10. AER LINGUS JETTISONS GREETINGS AS GAEILGE
GO mbeannaí Dia daoibh, tá fáilte romhaibh ar bord na heitilte seo – or hello and welcome to your flight is the familiar greeting you'll hear when flying Aer Lingus to anywhere except Belfast.
The Dublin-based airline has ditched its familiar Irish-language greeting because it might upset passengers flying to and from Belfast. Aer Lingus launched services from Belfast earlier this week.
Executives at the highest level took the decision not to use Irish on board flights from the city because they might be politically contentious.
Since August, when Aer Lingus announced its plans for Belfast at Stormont in the presence of First Minister Ian Paisley, senior airline officials have been embroiled in a number of battles.
Trade unions in the 26 Counties threatened strike action over the terms and conditions being offered to Belfast employees while the decision to axe Heathrow services from Shannon to allow Aldergrove services to start caused a storm in the west.
The emerald green planes in Belfast have the familiar shamrock, national symbol of Ireland, on their tail fins.
The uniforms are still predominantly green and the inflight magazine is called Cara – friend in Irish. The first Aldergrove-based planes also carry on the tradition of being named after saints – Saint Ciara and Saint Flannan.
However, in Belfast, cabin crew will not welcome you on board with a friendly Irish greeting.
Irish is an officially recognised “minority language” in the Six Counties where more than 10% of the population claim to have some knowledge of the language.
On December 14 Richard Walsh, RSF National Publicity officer said the decision by Aer Lingus to remove Irish-language greetings from their flights in and out of Aldergrove was based upon the lie that there are two Irelands.
“Aer Lingus sought to treat Aldergrove as a 'foreign base' when negotiating contracts for staff based there, despite the fact that it is situated on Irish soil. Once again they are shamefully treating County Antrim as a foreign place through their refusal to use the National language on flights in and out of the airport.
“We in Republican Sinn Féin do not accept the lie that there are two Irelands. Nor do we agree that workers in the 26-Counties should be entitled to higher pay than those in the Six Occupied Counties. Aer Lingus have long claimed to be the National carrier, but their actions in relation to their new Aldergrove hub shows that they have only self-interest rather than the National interest at heart.”
11. BRITISH COLONIAL POLICE FORCED BACK INTO FLAK JACKETS
THE British colonial police in Belfast have been forced back into their flak jackets because of increased resistance to British occupation.
The British colonial police in Greater Belfast have been told to put the body armour back on because several have been targeted over the last few weeks.
The move is a setback for the programme to demilitarise British policing in the Six-Counties. Until the recent upsurge in resistance to British rule, the RUC/PSNI patrolled Belfast without flak jackets and travelled in cars without armour. Two were shot in Derry and Dungannon in November.
The attacks were carried out to coincide with the handing over of intelligence gathering on resistance to British occupation from the RUC/PSNI special branch to MI5.
MI5 operate from a new £20m hi-tech building inside the British army’s Palace barracks in Holywood.
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12. NEW GROUPING HAS LVF LINKS
A SHADOWY group claiming to be made up of disillusioned republicans has members of a leading loyalist family with LVF connections in its ranks.
The so-called Irish Republican Liberation Army (IRLA) has been issuing death threats to members of the Provisionals. The Belfast-based newspaper The Irish News reported that the gang masquerading as the IRLA is in fact made up of members of a loyalist family from Co Antrim with LVF connections and two drug dealers from a nationalist area in north Belfast.
The revelation came as the shooting of a 28-year-old man on the Ballyhill Road in Co Antrim on December 9 was also being linked to the LVF.
Stuart Hill was shot in the head and back in the gun attack that happened at around 8.40pm.
Hill had been involved in a fall out with the loyalist death squad in 2006 and had moved into the Westland estate in north Belfast under the protection of former UDA boss Alan McClean.
Sources say that Hill survived the gun attack only because he was wearing a bullet-proof vest at the time.
He told the RUC/PSNI that he had been walking along the Ballyhill Road when a car pulled up alongside him and one of the passengers opened fire
Pictures of two masked men claiming to be members of the IRLA were circulated to the press last week, accompanied by a statement saying anyone giving information to the RUC/PSNI would be treated as informers.
ENDS