Peter Robinson slams RIR ruling

First Minister to meet Paterson after MoD refuse city parade

The First Minister will hold an urgent meeting with the Secretary of State to discuss the MoD’s refusal to hold a Belfast homecoming parade for troops returning from Afghanistan.
Peter Robinson demanded the meeting in a telephone conversation with Owen Paterson in a bid to have the controversial decision overturned.
“This outrageous decision has been made by the MoD in London without any consultation either with the local administration or local representatives,” the DUP leader said.
“The decision is unacceptable and we will be seeking a review of the decision otherwise the impression will be given that dissident republicans can dictate where our soldiers are able to parade.”

The Royal Irish Regiment will be taking part in an annual service of Thanksgiving at St Anne’s Cathedral on May 22.
However, petitions calling for a full military parade to go ahead have been organised.
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The children's commissioner in NI is investigating photographs of young children dressed as republican paramilitaries.
Patricia Lewsley described the photographs as "deeply worrying". In them, children are seen wearing balaclavas, combat clothes and berets while holding replica weapons, including AK47s and Armalites. The images were taken six months ago at an event at the Ti Chulainn cultural centre, south Armagh. The centre in Mullaghbawn has received significant EU funding in recent years. Ms Lewsley said: "I will be contacting the Ti Chulainn Centre, the Special EU Programmes Body and the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister for an explanation. "Parents and responsible adults must protect children and young people, parents and responsible adults must keep them safe. "My job is to hold Government and organisations to account over their actions," she said. "The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the Government has signed, states there is a clear duty to protect children from getting into vulnerable situations such as this." ...

Demands for a homecoming parade in Belfast to recognise soldiers returning from Afghanistan are intensifying.
The City Council is expected to hold a meeting next week to propose inviting the Ministry of Defence to stage an event for the Royal Irish Regiment and Irish Guards who return from Helmand province in the coming weeks.

The motion will be proposed by Ian Crozier, chairman of Belfast City Council’s policy and resources committee. “The people of Northern Ireland want to see a homecoming parade in their capital city, there is no doubt about that,” he said.
“Defence Secretary Liam Fox has made clear his support for a parade in Belfast, but in recent days some ambiguity has emerged about what needs to happen so that a parade is actually organised.
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Tributes have been paid to a Royal Irish Regiment soldier from Banbridge who was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday. L/Cpl Stephen McKee, 27, was taking part in an operation in Helmand province when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb. His wife Carley said he was a hero and the best husband anyone could have. The Ministry of Defence said he was a "fine soldier, trustworthy and courageous". Tributes have also been paid by NI First Minister Peter Robinson, Danny Kennedy MLA, who is a friend of the McKee family and the Orange Order, of which L/Cpl McKee was a member. As well as his wife, he leaves behind parents Heather and Bobby, brothers Michael, Gareth and Robert and sisters Kelly and Rebecca. His two-day-old daughter passed away last year. The dead soldier's brothers, father-in-law and cousin have all served with the Royal Irish Regiment. ...

From the Belfast Telegraph.

Healing Through Remembering director Kate Turner spoke with a banner at her side - and on it the words: Whatever you say, say something.

On its own, that short sentence says a lot about the distance we have travelled; a considerable distance from the words that once cautioned: Whatever you say, say nothing.
The Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson was in the audience, as was Alan McBride, who lost his wife and father-in-law in the IRA bomb on the Shankill Road in 1993.
This event, in my hometown of Holywood, was organised by the Sanctus Boscus Reconciliation Group, and I had been asked to say a few words at the end of the talk by Ms Turner.
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From the Belfast Telegraph:

If Northern Ireland didn't descend into Yugoslavia-style ethnic cleansing during the Troubles, it was in spite of republicans not because of them, argues Owen Polley

Is it a shock that Pat Sheehan, convicted IRA bomber-turned-West Belfast MLA, has a warped view of the Troubles? As the latest back-street revolutionary to turn Armani-clad seer and represent Sinn Fein at Stormont, it would be more surprising if he saw republican violence for the futile nihilism it was, rather than as a "probably quite civilised" campaign.

That won't relieve the hurt and revulsion felt by victims of 30 years of IRA 'civility' when they read his comments - made in an interview with David McKittrick.
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Increasing police use of stop and question powers is justified because of the Northern Ireland security threat, an independent assessor said. The number of cases rose by a fifth in the last year. That is of concern in nationalist areas where use of the powers is seen as fuelling support for dissident republicans but police see it as a valuable tool for combating terrorism. Independent reviewer Robert Whalley said officers were facing a serious threat from dissident republicans which was not expected to relent. "My own judgment is that the overall increased use of these powers is justified in response to the scale of the challenge from the residual terrorist groups, and in particular the risk to life from firearms and explosives," he said. ...

The sisters of a British soldier killed by the IRA almost 40 years ago placed flowers for the first time yesterday at the spot where a sniper shot him. Lance Corporal Richard Miller (21) was on undercover duty on the streets beside Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital when he was ambushed in August 1973. On what would have been his 58th birthday, the two women from the north east of England stood by themselves on the Falls Road yesterday and quietly remembered their only brother. Mother-of-three Karyn Jackson (51) from the Ashbrooke area of Sunderland, said: “I found it very emotional, but I'm glad I came to see where he died. “I was only 14 at the time and didn’t really understand. I heard and watched my parents’ pain, but there was no bitterness.” ...

They look a sombre and imposing bunch, five senior officers in the Royal Irish Constabulary posing in Musgrave Street Police Station in Belfast as the 19th Century gave way to the 20th.
They form just one photograph out of dozens now on display there. Belfast's brand new state-of-the-art police station had opened in December 1893, some months late, and a little over budget. A mere 117 years later, many of the officers who served in it over the years have been wandering along its endless labyrinth of corridors one last time. The station was manned by officers from two other forces, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The brand new police station for the 21st century is getting its finishing touches a matter of yards away inside the same compound. Once today's officers move in, the older red brick buildings are due for demolition early in 2011, to be replaced by a carpark. In its time the old station saw riots, a police mutiny, and during the Troubles, bombs and grenade attacks. ...

Two of Northern Ireland's politicians are spitting nails after a trip to visit troops in Afghanistan was called off because they were too portly for Army flak jackets. Lord Ken Maginnis and David Simpson, DUP, had been due to fly out this week to meet soldiers from the Royal Irish and the Irish Guards but the Army couldn't find flak jackets large enough to fit them. "To be told at the last minute that the British Army has not got two flak jackets with a 54" chest was just a bit thick," said Lord Maginnis who weighs in at about 18 stone. "I wanted to go out and meet the troops and made considerable efforts to clear my diary. "So this made me very cross. I am no giant, neither is Davy Simpson. We are both reasonably normal, although we are bigger than most." ...

Separate explosives have been defused in Northern Ireland as dissident republicans stepped up their campaign. A viable pipe bomb and suspected flammable liquid was discovered by airport staff in a Toyota car at the long stay car park in Belfast International Airport on Saturday afternoon. The alert ended on Sunday morning. In Lurgan, Co Armagh, a 40kg explosive in a beer keg was made safe by army technical officers after a member of the public raised the alarm on the Tullydagan Road on Friday. Police Service of Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said: "Both devices had the potential to cause injury and damage. ...

DNA on a cigarette discarded at the scene of a policeman's death 29 years ago led to a man being charged with murder, a court has heard. RUC reserve constable John Proctor, 25, was shot dead in Magherafelt in September 1981. Seamus Martin Kearney, 54, of Gorteade Road, Swatragh, was arrested on Monday. A policeman told the court his DNA sample matched one on the cigarette. Mr Kearney, who denies the charge, was granted bail. Mr Proctor had just visited his wife and new son in the Mid-Ulster Hospital in Magherafelt, when he was shot dead in the car park. ...

A Lurgan republican accused of the Real IRA murder of two soldiers is claiming he was subjected to sexual and physical abuse during a prison strip-search.

Colin Duffy, 42, has been in custody since March of last year when Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey were shot dead outside Massereene barracks.
His claims have meant the preliminary investigation into the murders - due to restart has been delayed again.
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The Real IRA has said it will resume attacks on the UK mainland - with banks and bankers its principal targets.

Vowing to alternate between "military, political and economic targets", the republican terror group has said that bankers are "criminals" and their role in funding Britain's colonial and capitalist system "has not gone unnoticed".

Responding to questions from The Guardian, a spokesman for the Real IRA said: "We have a track record of attacking high-profile economic targets and financial institutions.
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Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman is due to publish his report into the alleged involvement of a priest in a 1972 IRA bombing in County Londonderry.

Nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed in the village of Claudy in one of the most controversial incidents of the Troubles.

There was an alleged deal between the UK government and the Catholic Church not to arrest Father James Chesney.
Fr Chesney was moved across the Irish border by the Church after the attack.
The priest, who died in 1980, had been the curate in Cullion, a small parish in County Londonderry.

No-one convicted The Bishop of Derry, Neil Farren, responding to rumours that Fr Chesney was a member of the South Derry Brigade of ...