Posted by Jim on October 22, 2015
By Francesca Ryan
V ICTIMS’ group Relatives For Justice have cautiously welcomed an announcement that allegations of security force collusion in 24 murders in the north by an army intelligence agent known as ‘Stakeknife’ are to be investigated by police.
Yesterday, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Barra McGrory QC, announced that he has requested that the Chief Constable investigate a range of offences which relate to the activities of Stakeknife. West Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci was named as the British army agent within the IRA. He denies the allegation.
The Director has requested two new investigations – one to examine the full range of offences alleged to have been committed by Stakeknife and another to look at any criminal activity that may have been carried out by security service personnel.
RFJ Director Mark Thompson said only an international figure can be trusted to investigate the matter.
“The families we represent welcome the statement made by the Director of Public Prosecutions made today,” he said. “However, they have no confidence in the PSNI conducting any investigation.
“We are supporting a number of families affected by this and have been for at least eight years and they are all of the same view that this is about accountability, accountability that goes to the highest level of the intelligence services, MI5 and the RUC Special Branch.
“We are talking about accountability for actions that could have saved lives and we need to reflect on how far up the chain this goes.
“We also believe that although 20 to 24 murders are being talked about, we think it is upwards of 40 murders and that the culpability for those lies at the door of Downing Street and Whitehall.”
Announcing the double investigation, Mr McGrory said: “I have been made aware of the scope and range of possible offences that may have been carried out by this individual and also members of intelligence agencies.
“This information has been provided to me by the office of the Police Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire, which is now concluding a painstaking review of all available material. A common link across a significant number of potential crimes, including murder, was the alleged involvement of an agent of military intelligence codenamed ‘Stakeknife’.
“In addition, the Attorney General of Northern Ireland John Larkin QC, has recently contacted me about a murder case to enquire about any action the Public Prosecution Service may be considering. This is a case in which the same agent is potentially implicated.
“Having reviewed all of the available evidence I consider that the original decision did not take into account relevant considerations and also took into account irrelevant factors.
“I have concluded that the original decision was not within the range of decisions that could reasonably be taken in the circumstances. This decision has been set aside.
“In accordance with our Code for Prosecutors, I have asked the Chief Constable to provide further materials so that the matter may be reconsidered.”
Posted by Jim on October 21, 2015
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness speaking at Stormont yesterday after the release of the report
By Staff Reporter
Unionists will file into inter-party talks at Stormont today despite a claim in yesterday’s report on paramilitary groups that the IRA Army Council still exists and that its members believe they exercise control over Sinn Féin.
And the DUP has come under withering criticism over its decision to reappoint its ministers and go back into full government in the wake of a report which went further than the Chief Constable’s controversial claims about the IRA in August which sparked the political crisis.
TUV leader Jim Allister described the DUP move as “political treachery” and claimed that the party will remain in government “regardless of what the IRA do”.
Mr Allister said: “Bad enough to sit in government with IRA/Sinn Féin under the false pretence that all their military structures and weapons were gone, but to rush back into the arms of Sinn Féin after authoritative confirmation that the IRA not only exists, but murders, has weapons and an illegal Army Council, which directs both the IRA and Sinn Fein, is political treachery.
“It says all that needs to be said about the DUP’s lust for power that hours after a report confirmed that the IRA Army Council not only existed but that it controls Sinn Fein, the DUP is back to business as usual with Sinn Fein. This from the party which claimed it only went into government with Sinn Fein on the basis of a manifesto in 2007 which stated ‘All paramilitary and criminal activity and terrorist structures must be abandoned before Sinn Féin is admitted to government.’
“TUV alone is clear about what needs to be done. The current arrangements are totally immoral and need to be consigned to history. No true democrat can sit in government with those controlled by an Army Council.
“Let the electorate be in no doubt. The DUP’s actions today show that regardless of what the IRA do the DUP will sustain them in government. Let every unionist voter remember this perfidious episode when next they vote.”
DUP leader Peter Robinson told UTV last night: “I thought that we had always argued that the DNA of the Army cCuncil was the same DNA as the Sinn Féin leadership so this is really a distinction without a difference.
“What it does point out is that these structures, even if they are being used for political purposes, should be removed. We should be relying only on political structures within our present process.”
In reference to the report’s claim that the IRA Army Council still exists, the DUP said it was “disturbed but not surprised”.
A party statement continued: “The report might clear the republican leadership in that it reaches a ‘firm conclusion that it is committed to the peace process’ and that ‘it has a wholly political focus’ but it makes depressing reading about the pace of change within the organisation and the level of control the leadership has over some of its members and their activities.
“In truth it demonstrates the scale of the task we all face in normalising our society and making the Assembly sustainable. While the report indicates that IRA structures remain in existence, it states it is in a much reduced form and the IRA of the Troubles era is well beyond recall. The factual assessment finds that the remaining organisation is not involved in any targeting, recruiting, arms procurement, planning or conducting terrorist activities as had been the case previously. Yet the idea that any paramilitary structure still exists is unacceptable. This is true of loyalist groups as much as republican ones.”
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said the report vindicates his party and poses difficult questions for Sinn Féin.
“We welcome the publication of this report because we were the party that forced the panel into existence. The position of the UUP has been entirely vindicated. The report has highlighted in the starkest terms the issue for Sinn Féin. How can they continue to deny the IRA doesn`t exist when this report makes clear Sinn Féin are being overseen by the IRA`s Army Council?
“This blows a hole in Sinn Féin’s argument. They demand we respect their political mandate, but they now need to make clear the extent to which that mandate is shaped by a group of unnamed shadowy figures who in the past have overseen the most lethal terrorist force on the planet.
“We note the panel concur exactly with our assessment of the triple evil of the continued presence of paramilitary organisations, which is: the control they exercise over communities, the impact of criminality and organised crime on the economy and the damage to our international reputation. We still see the opportunity to rid the country and this island once and for all of all paramilitary and associated criminal activity, but for now it’s over to Sinn Féin, who have some very serious explaining to do, starting with how they are going to accept reality regarding the IRA.”
Mr Nesbitt later added that the UUP would be entering into the resumed talks at Stormont today.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said Sinn Féin takes its lead from the Ard Comhairle and Ard Fheis and said his party would work to bring paramilitarism and criminality to an end. He added that Sinn Féin is the only republican organisation involved in the peace process.
“Republicans who support the Good Friday Agreement support the political institutions, support the peace process and don’t represent a threat to anyone in the community,” he said.
“There are, of course, enormous and urgent issues to be dealt with around the existence of armed groups, paramilitaries and criminality.
“We all have a responsibility to deal with these issues to tackle criminality and bring paramilitarism to an end and Sinn Féin will play a full part in this important work.”
The SDLP said there’s no surprises in the new report. Party leader Alasdair McDonnell added: “They may be committed to peace but too many of their members want a piece of the action on the side.”
Posted by Jim on October 20, 2015
Sinn Féin MLA Martin McGuinness has said our society is on a journey from conflict to peace and we all need to work to complete that journey so that violence becomes a thing of the past.
Mr McGuinness said:
“First and foremost, the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan are personal tragedies for the families involved and we should be mindful of their grief.
“It is a matter of historical fact that the IRA instructed its members in 2005:
‘to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means’ and ‘not engage in any other activities whatsoever’.
“It is clear the IRA leadership has successfully delivered on this transition from conflict to peace.
“Let me be absolutely clear and unequivocal. Sinn Féin is now the only organisation involved in the Republican struggle and in Republican activism.
“Republicans who support the Good Friday Agreement support the political institutions, support the peace process and don’t represent a threat to anyone in the community.
“There are of course enormous and urgent issues to be dealt with around the existence of armed groups, paramilitaries and criminality.
“We all have a responsibility to deal with these issues to tackle criminality and bring paramilitarism to an end and Sinn Féin will play a full part in this important work.
“We now need to get on with the pressing issues facing the community and the economy; Tory cuts to essential public services and attacks on working families and those on welfare and dealing with the legacy of the past.
“We will work positively and constructively with all the political parties and the two governments to achieve all of this.”
Posted by Jim on
The future of the political institutions remains uncertain following an
MI5/PSNI review of the status of the Provisional IRA and loyalist
paramilitary groups which found that the PIRA continues to exist and
control some arms caches, but in a “much reduced” form.
Speaking at Westminster, British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers said the
review, drafted by a three-person panel specially appointed to the task
last month, was “evidence-based and credible”.
The assessment also found that leaderships of the PIRA and loyalist
groups are “committed to peaceful means to achieve their political
objectives” — but some individuals still represent “a threat to
national security”.
Regarding the IRA, it claimed that the “senior leadership, Provisional
Army Council and departments with specific responsibility” all continue
to exist, as well as some regional command structures. Some activity
takes place at the local level, it said, but “without the knowledge or
direction of the leadership”.
It said the PIRA organisation now had a “wholly political” focus,
engaging in low-level efforts to identify informers, gather
intelligence on other republican groups and monitor remaining arms
supplies — but it is no longer involved in “targeting” or “terrorist
attacks against the state or its representatives”.
It is also neither recruiting, nor seeking a new source of weapons, the
statement added.
The report endorses last month’s assessment by PSNI chief George
Hamilton in which he said individual members of the Provisional IRA
were involved in the recent murder of Kevin McGuigan, an east Belfast
republican suspected of involvement in the murder of former IRA
commander Jock Davison in May.
Regarding loyalists, the statement said that the UDA had broken into
essentially autonomous units while some UVF structures remained intact.
Both are engaged in organised crime and ‘paramilitary assaults’.
In his response, the DUP’s Nigel Dodds said the party would continue
with talks but did not immediately promise to revive the institutions
from the ‘zombie’ state in which it placed them last month.
He said the report ‘illustrates the hard work ahead’ in the current
talks process at Stormont. The continued existence of the IRA and
loyalist paramilitary groups is ‘unacceptable’ and must be ended, he
added.
Speaking ahead of today’s report, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said
that “whatever its conclusions Sinn Fein will not tolerate any
undermining of the rights of citizens who vote for Sinn Fein. This
party has a mandate, democratically achieved at the ballot box and we
will not accept any infringement or erosion of that mandate by the
British government or anyone else.”
Posted by Jim on
Attn. AOH NY Metro Conference members
Please know that our Brothers in Bronx County have secured a hall for us all to meet. I’m asking all NYS AOH Officers (that are within the NY Metro Conference), County and Division Presidents to please make it a point to attend this very important meeting. This meeting will be open to any Brother Hibernian, but you must present your 2015 Membership Card in order to enter the Meeting.
Saturday October 24, 2015
Time: 11:00 AM
Location: St. Barnabas Elementary School
413 East 241st Street (Between Martha Ave and East 242nd Street)
Bronx, NY
(Very close to both the Major Deegan and the Cross Bronx Expressway)
