Victims and politicians opposed to British government plans to introduce a Troubles amnesty will meet later today.
The gathering has been organised by campaigner Raymond McCord.
His son Raymond Jr was beaten to death by a UVF gang in November 1997.
Some of those believed to have been involved in the brutal murder include police informers.
The meeting comes after the British government announced plans to introduce a Troubles amnesty and end civil cases and inquests.
Among those due to attend are DUP and Alliance Party MPs Jim Shannon and Stephen Farry along with SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly.
A cross-community section of victims relatives will also be present along with Julie Hambleton, whose sister was killed in the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.
Mr McCord last night said “there can be no amnesty for members of paramilitary organisations, loyalist or republican, state forces or agents”.
He added that relatives will not accept the British government proposals.
“We are saying that is dismantling the justice system for its own agenda and continuing the cover up of their own involvement with terrorist murderers who were in their pay,” he said.
Mr McCord added that “this is not about orange or green, unionist or nationalist, this is about people who were murdered and the state are saying they don’t matter, that’s what this is about”.
A piece in yesterday’s Irish News caught my eye, in the sense it claimed that there was now 71% support for Integrated Education (from LucidTalk’s online panel), the same proportion that voted in favour of the Belfast Agreement in 1998.Just 7/8% of NI schools are integrated, but that’s huge compared to the handful that followed Lagan College in the 1980s. It and its North Belfast analogue Hazelwood College fed an aspiration that’s only continued to grow since.There are 68 schools, with more due to come on stream in September. The major restraint (apart from inertia within the system) seems to be the fact that in many parts of Northern Ireland some places (like Derry) live separate lives.Reading Gerald’s piece this morning about the Belfast of Brian Moore’s recalling a world in which to venture beyond the bounds of your religiously defined community was to risk isolation from everything you loved, you can feel the change.Today, my old Catholic secondary although still Catholic, draws in many local protestant kids, and in turn, the children of the kids I went to school with there in the 70s now look to other schools, state, integrated or Catholic grammars.Identity in the greater Belfast region, where Alliance is on the rise in electorally significant numbers, has never been more fluid. Outside Belfast, old suspicions lurk. LT suggests up to 72% of SF supporters want kids educated together.Yet SF’s Upper Bann Education spokesman John O’Dowd criticised Integrated Education for promoting British Identity, “you can pay homage to the Crown but to no-one else”. Jurassic perhaps, but he reflects feeling in rural, nationalist NI.Whatever its drawbacks, Catholic education (and latterly Irish medium schools) has been a haven for Irish cultural perspectives (language, culture, and sport) that have endured longer more deeply than sincere religious conviction.However, Integrated Education, from first seeds dropped in the hard, unyielding soil of 1980 Belfast is today working with the grain of popular change, where IE is practical and opened many other doors where presently it’s not.Whilst they continue to attract the new, post Troubles (post Boomer) generations looking for a better NI, whilst offering levels of educational achievement which are as good as or better than other sectors of education it will grow.
Trucks with goods arriving from Britain leaving Larne Port. Picture by Brian Lawless/PA Wire
David Young, PA29 July, 2021 07:24
Official portrait of Lord Jay of Ewelme who chairs the committee on the Northern Ireland Protocol, and said there was an urgent need for compromise. Issue date: Thursday July 29, 2021.
The Northern Ireland Protocol risks becoming a constant irritant in future EU/UK relations unless both sides change their “fundamentally flawed” approaches to resolving the dispute, peers have found.
A House of Lords committee set up to examine the controversial post-Brexit trading arrangements for the Irish Sea has warned that Northern Ireland could become a “permanent casualty” of Brexit unless compromise is found urgently.
The EU and UK remain at odds over the implementation of new checks and processes on goods being shipped into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
The committee has published an introductory report on the arrangements that have created the economic barriers on Irish Sea trade.
Despite having membership drawn from a variety of political viewpoints, including nationalist and unionist peers from Northern Ireland, the committee’s findings were unanimously agreed.
The peers expressed concern that the “fundamentally flawed” approaches adopted by the UK and EU were hampering efforts to find solutions.
They said the UK approach had been characterised by a “lack of clarity, transparency and readiness” while the EU had demonstrated a “lack of balance, understanding and flexibility”.
They said the EU mistrusts whether the UK is acting in good faith while the UK believes the EU is adopting a disproportionate approach to the implementation of the protocol.
This has led to a “serious deterioration” in relations between London, Belfast, Dublin and Brussels, the report found.
Lord Jay of Ewelme, who chairs the committee on the protocol, said there was an urgent need for compromise.
“That won’t be easy, but it is an absolute necessity that the UK and the EU should now work together urgently to identify solutions if Northern Ireland is not to become a permanent casualty of the Brexit process,” he said.
“The tensions over the protocol currently seem insoluble. Yet that was also true of the political situation during the Troubles. But the peace process ultimately took root and flourished, through a process of time, patience, dialogue, and most of all trust. Those same qualities are now needed to address the problems that Brexit and the protocol present.”
In an interview with the PA news agency, he added: “If there is no resolution, if it just festers, it seems to me it will become a constant irritant in the relationship between the EU and the UK and it will become an irritant within the island of Ireland, between north and south.
“I cannot see that that is in the interest of either community or any of the communities in Northern Ireland nor of business people in Northern Ireland nor of the economy of Northern Ireland and that’s what worries me, that’s why I really do think it is important to reach an agreement here.
“This is not something in my view that can just be allowed or should just be allowed to fester. I think that’s a real worry.”
The committee’s key findings and recommendations include:
– Trade between GB and Northern Ireland has been “significantly disrupted” by protocol red tape and there is a risk that some British businesses will withdraw from the NI market. It noted particular concerns around the future supply of medicines and medical products to Northern Ireland.
– The protocol provision for dual access for Northern Ireland business to sell unfettered within the UK market and EU single market offers potential economic opportunities. It said those benefits would take time to bear fruit and would depend on political stability and certainty.
– A host of practical and specific solutions to ease the bureaucratic burden has already been identified by business representatives.
– One of the most significant single measures would be a UK-EU agreement on veterinary standards. The committee noted the disagreement over how the UK might align its rules to the EU’s under such an arrangement but called on both sides to find a compromise solution.
– Steps are needed to ensure the views in Northern Ireland are better reflected at UK and EU level.
– Alternatives to the trading elements of the protocol must be considered, given the Stormont Assembly will vote in 2024 whether to drop those arrangements.
The committee on the protocol is a sub-committee of the House of Lords European Affairs Committee. It will resume its examination of the arrangements after the summer recess.
Sean Downes clutches his chest as he is struck by a plastic bullet in July 1984
Connla Young29 July, 2021 01:00
Denis Donaldson
THE widow of Sean Downes, who was killed after being struck by a plastic bullet fired by an RUC officer, has criticised British government legacy plans.
Mr Downes (22), who was known as John to his family, died after being hit by a plastic bullet during a republican anti-internment rally in west Belfast in 1984.
His family has launched a legal challenge over a decision by the attorney general to turn down a request for a fresh inquest.
His widow Brenda Downes last night slammed recently announced British government plans to introduce a Troubles amnesty and end civil proceedings and inquests.
The controversial plans were revealed by Secretary of State Brandon Lewis earlier this month.
The killing of her husband, who was a former republican prisoner, caused widespread anger in the nationalist community as Mr Downes was unarmed when he was shot in the chest at close range.
He was struck after a major RUC operation was put in place ahead of the rally in a bid to stop former Noraid publicity director Martin Galvin, who was banned from entering the north, from making an appearance.
In September 1986 RUC reservist Nigel Hegarty was found not guilty of manslaughter.
In recent years concerns have been raised about the role of informer Denis Donaldson in events leading up to the August 1984 killing.
He was shot dead in Co Donegal in 2006.
“By removing the option of an inquest, the British government are essentially signalling their intention to pull the curtain down on my decades long attempt to secure justice for my husband,” Mrs Downes said.
“Contrary to what Brandon Lewis has stated, this is not the time to ‘draw a line under the past’, in fact the British government and judiciary have tried to draw a line under my husband’s death since 1984.”
She said she will continue to demand “an inquest into the unlawful killing of my husband”.
Her legal representative Ciaran Cunningham, of Brentnall Legal, echoed his client’s concern.
“We are now very concerned that British government plans for a statute of limitations in relation to deaths inflicted by the security forces here will directly effect and prevent Brenda, and countless others from seeing not only criminal convictions but, in our client’s case, wider judicial recognition of the unlawful taking of innocent life,” he said.
A UK government spokesman said: “The government is committed to continuing engagement with a range of stakeholders, including victims groups, to find a way forward on legacy issues that focuses on reconciliation, delivers better outcomes for victims and ends the cycle of investigations that is not working for anyone.”
Lets take a little journey back to a place where our youth took place. For me it was Brooklyn a little town in New York where people of all ethnic backgrounds melted together and formed communities….well I will say Neighborhoods because that word means a helluva lot to me. Who knows how it began or for that matter when it began but I know it happens. What I speak of is a”” Neighborhood”. You may have a different opinion of mine and your experiences may have a different view as to your your own hometowns so I ask you to please appreciate my recollections of growing up in a “”Neighborhood” meant to me . Maybe you do …Maybe you don’t. . It seems to me that whatever your ethnicity is and where your ancestors were from for geographical reasons they seemed to all have their journeys to America begin in a New York port of entry. Ellis Island was the most prevalent. Brooklyn was most likely where it began America at its migration infancy was for all intents and purposes a haven for all who wished to work hard to build a new life for those who were willing to work hard and better their lives to fulfill a promise to all those were no longer welcome or were deemed as undesirable to their native lands . So it was their choice to brave a dangerous ocean crossing to find a home of freedom and sanctuary from the policies of nations not so willing to grant such promise. Now I know that in many regions of our country certain ethnic groups were drawn to each and built their own communities. It was a natural instinct to surround themselves with those to whom they shared common traditions and rituals be it religion or origins I know that there are certain cities and states that were more attractive to certain ethnicities In my beloved Brooklyn their was no choice as to whether or not you wished to stay amongst your own “kind” for lack of a better word because it was the ultimate melting pot of all countries and the immigrant families who were so proud to have called Brooklyn home were strangers in a strange land ….how frightened they must have been . .. Sure as they exited the boats at New York harbor they sought out and socialized amongst people whom they shared common bonds and ways of the old country’s backgrounds . Yes you were drawn to those who shared your language , struggles and religion. Indeed you found kinship to those who shared your ethic names. For instance if your name ended in a vowel you were pretty much Italian ..or if your name started with Mc you were Irish…if your name ended with a ski …you were Polish …if your name ended with stein ..you were Jewish …I think you get my point. I can only state this because I am older now and can look back and realize the differences…..yet they were more worried about just surviving and feeding their families . They were and are today the heros I look up to. They built a life and learned the ways of their new found home and began to love their new country that now called home. I think of just how scared they were ….Maybe you agree…..Maybe you dont.I know that as just a kid growing up in Brooklyn ,at that point in my life there were no differences . Sure Jewish kids sometimes wore Yarmulkes but that was a religious thing and to a kid it meant not alot. They played ball like all the rest of us even the Catholic kids who had to serve mass on Sunday mornings so we could not play our baseball or basketball games until after 12 O”Clock on Sundays at the park. However it was not unusual for us to gravitate to our”own kind “ because it is human nature to seek those with common ground and backgrounds . I believe that was nothing bad nor wrong about that…to me that is just human nature …Maybe you do ….Maybe you dont? Our time spent mingling amongst people of different cultures and ethnicities as kids was just easy because we were all just kids and saw no differences. That was our innocence of ignorant bliss ..and it was unknowingly wonderful and simple. Youth leads to adolescence and adolescence leads to adulthood . It was at this time differences of cultures were made more prevalent. Now here is where things got a little tricky in Brooklyn. Because of the numerous ethic backgrounds amongst us growing up and becoming teenagers and feeling that our minds were drawn to the opposite sex…. in my case girls!!! We were never thinking of the ethnic background of the kids were were growing up with we just thought they were pretty or handsome and we pursued our likes and crushes. So we dated with only that criteria and never gave it a second thought . Do you remember that …Maybe you do …Maybe you don’t So now you start dating and you must now meet the parents who in their minds would be so happy to have their sons or daughters dating a person of your own ethnicity because thats was the way it was in the old country from where they immigrated from and God bless them for it was what they were accustomed to . It was never about not accepting others … It was only about what they knew ….they knew Italians so they wanted their children to marry Italians …It was the Irish wanting their children to marry Irish …and so forth . I refuse to call that racism . It was hard on them…They wanted you to marry a nice Italian boy …or a beautiful Jewish girl or a religious Irish boy. Back in the old country that was certainly a pretty good option with great odds. However this was America where they came for a better life . That better life offered different choices for their children as far as marrying went. I will say for the most part the happiness of their children was in the end the most important thing . Then they became a part of a “Neighborhood” In Brooklyn it seemed to work out pretty well . Do you agree …Maybe You don’t. I am very proud to say that I was taught to make sauce from my girlfriends Italian Mother I am also very proud to say that my children know the meaning of Rosh Shoshanna. I am proud to say that my children can pronounce Kielbasa the correct way. I am also pissed off at them when they point out that I don’t pronounce Quesadilla correctly. It was most likely that my Father and Mother would have loved for me to have married a nice Irish Catholic girl . That didn’t happen I married a beautiful German girl….My sister married a handsome Italian man …..My brother married a wonderful Italian girl …my other brother married a nice Irish girl. You see Brooklyn afforded us the choice because it was that melting pot and I believe was the conjoining of cultures made my family a stronger unit. Now don’t you think for one moment that I cast aspersions on those who wished to keep marriage within their own, provided it was by love and not pressure . I applaud you …the very same way I applaud those whose families unions were guided by love and were diversified .. Do you agree …or maybe you do…. maybe you don’t This is what happened in my “Neighborhood” growing up. It was tough on our parents to have given us the opportunity to live where we were all free to make certain choices …. But please understand just how difficult it was to them to let us make those choices . Brooklyn has taught me that tolerance and understanding is not a gift…for it is something that you may only achieve if you are willing to listen ,learn and respect those who are differentI hope you find this to be a point of awareness …Maybe You do ….Maybe you dont ….Either way I think you are alright .any thoughts?””
