Policing – Page 4 – Slugger O'Toole

Garda killing raises questions about policing resources in border areas

Mick Fealty on October 12, 2015, 8:07 am

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Drogheda based Fine Gael Councillor and former Garda Special Branch officer has raised important questions about the number of officers deployed in border areas where levels of crime are still high relative to other largely rural parts of the Republic following the killing of Garda Tony Golden. During the troubles a call to the house of suspected paramilitary would have immediately raised red flags and no guard would have been sent out on their own he said. Garda Golden is …

Man wanted by German Authorities over 1996 PIRA Attack arrested in Kerry

Pete Baker on October 9, 2015, 9:25 pm

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About that bad smell… Here’s one to keep on eye on. The BBC report notes A [46-year-old] man wanted by German authorities over an attack on a British army base in Germany in 1996 has appeared in court in the Republic of Ireland on an extradition warrant. And from the Irish Times report James Anthony Oliver Albert Corry (46) was arrested in Killorglin, Co Kerry, on Friday on foot of a European Arrest Warrant issued by German authorities. Mr Corry is …

Culture of ignoring the law and disorder is the real block to peace

Mick Fealty on September 18, 2015, 5:14 pm

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LAW AND DISORDER: Gerry Adams wants no preconditions going into these talks next week. But as Warren Little points out we do need to talk about a more general problem of tolerance for organised crime.

Gerry Adams: “Even if I’m wrong [about the continued existence of the Provisional IRA…]”

Pete Baker on September 14, 2015, 7:16 pm

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PROVISIONALS APPEAR THEN DISAPPEAR: It’s not the Provisional IRA structures that are the immediate cause for concern. It’s the involvement of those ‘structures’ in the events leading up to, and including, the murder of Kevin McGuigan, and the continued denials which have followed.

Nearly two decades of sectarian politics have produced increasing indifference to politics, which is progress of a kind. Age, education and income are now the great dividing lines.

Brian Walker on September 10, 2015, 10:34 am

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The Guardian’s Henry McDonald reports an advance of the findings of a complex opinion survey carried out by Social Market Research Belfast for four universities and coordinated by a team including Professor Peter Shirlow, now at Liverpool. In common with the NI Life and Times opinion surveys the poll confirms a much more complex state of public opinion than a straight standoff between unionist and nationalist or a hardening of attitudes between them. A huge amount of political agnosticism is …

Con politics… – redux

Pete Baker on September 5, 2015, 6:43 pm

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The caption may not be as perfect a fit this time round, but you should get the gist… Just saying, again… [Put… the bunny… back… in the box. – Ed] Pete Baker

“Those who the police believe ordered and implemented the murder of Kevin McGuigan are mainstream not mavericks.”

Pete Baker on September 2, 2015, 1:42 am

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Via Newshound. And for the, apparently, hard of understanding. Suzanne Breen hones in on the important detail at the heart of the current political kerfuffle. From Suzanne Breen in the Sunday Life The North has plunged into a political crisis, the Stormont institutions are on the brink of collapse, and unionist and nationalist politicians are bickering as though the peace process never happened. It may be argued that the events leading to this chaos matter not a jot to people in the Republic. IRA …

“The real story is not the existence of some skeleton structure, but the sound of gunfire…”

Pete Baker on August 27, 2015, 3:02 pm

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It’s not the still-extant Provisional IRA structures that are the immediate cause for concern, although “stupid” questions could, and should, be asked about their ultimate purpose, it’s the involvement of those Provisional IRA ‘structures’ in the events leading up to, and including, the murder of Kevin McGuigan, and the continued denials [of that reality! – Ed] which have followed. As I mentioned previously …a key element in the recent events under investigation, which I noted previously, [is] the Provisional IRA investigation into …

Tánaiste: “This is an insidious threat to Northern Ireland’s future as a healthy, stable democracy, and therefore a threat to the whole of this island.”

Pete Baker on August 25, 2015, 7:00 pm

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Brian’s weariness at another political crisis notwithstanding, it would be a mistake to dismiss reaction to recent events as a “kerfuffle”. There are legitimate concerns, and two men have been murdered. The Irish Justice Minister, Fine Gael’s Frances Fitzgerald, has asked the Garda Commissioner for a “fresh assessment” of Provisional IRA activities to take into account “what the PSNI have been learning about any PIRA structures as a result of [the rigorous investigation being carried out by the PSNI into the …

Threatening the existence of the Assembly is a victory for terrorism

Brian Walker on August 25, 2015, 1:38 pm

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Oh God, not another fundamental breakpoint founded on the highest principles, whether they’re about welfare or the IRA! Come on, get real. This kerfuffle over “IRA structures” will pass. For all their simulated outrage over the IRA or welfare, no politician – none of the leaders anyway – want to close Stormont down. Electoral politics are also in play on both sides of the border. We should discount it. No clear advantage can be gained by any party threatening to …

Villiers: “My understanding is, very much in line with that of the chief constable, that a number of the organisational structures of the Provisional IRA still exist…”

Pete Baker on August 24, 2015, 5:50 pm

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Sinn Féin continue with their policy of denial [of reality… – Ed], although Gerry Kelly has come closest to acknowledging that reality according to this RTÉ report Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Kelly said based on the political evidence over the past ten years, the IRA has not been active and therefore does not exist in the circumstances that people are talking about. Hmmm… Meanwhile, the governments continue to make excuses. From an Irish Independent report yesterday Earlier this year, in …

“Members of PIRA carried out their own investigation” into the Davison killing…

Pete Baker on August 22, 2015, 4:37 pm

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In the Belfast Telegraph, Liam Clarke highlights a significant point from the police assessment of Provisional IRA involvement in the murder of Kevin McGuigan – a point that was not included in earlier reports of that police assessment. From the Belfast Telegraph article Police have confirmed that senior IRA members conducted an inquiry into the death of Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison, gunned down in May, and identified Kevin McGuigan as the likely killer. Brian Rowan also mentioned that ‘inquiry’ in his …

After the McGuigan murder: The Provisionals really haven’t gone away, you know….

Mick Fealty on August 21, 2015, 10:26 am

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As I noted some time ago, the biggest problem Sinn Fein pose to society is their settled policy of partial disclosure. Do you believe Detective Superintendent Geddes’ assessment or Sinn Fein’s local representatives? On one level that’s matter of political choice. But as we have seen over the Cahill allegations, the party only ever says what’s good for it, even if it turns out to be a lie. [When it gets serious, of course you have to lie! – Ed] …

Building trust and policing for the present – Martin McGuinness and George Hamilton at #feile15

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on August 6, 2015, 11:58 pm

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Around 400 people filled the assembly hall of St Mary’s University College to hear deputy First Minster Martin McGuinness and PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton discuss the challenges of dealing with the past under the eye of chair Brian Rowan. Another 100 or more stood along the pavement outside St Mary’s protesting at the presence of the Chief Constable in West Belfast and calling for an end to “British internment in Ireland”. A tannoy blasted music over the railing towards …

“It is rather as if the US and Europe ended up not only accepting the right of ISIS to exist but went on to embrace Islam as their state religion…”

Pete Baker on August 1, 2015, 5:03 pm

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At The Broken Elbow, Ed Moloney responds to the Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams’ recent claim that “the IRA was never defeated” and, in the process, provides a useful corrective to the partial, ahistorical, view held by some. From The Broken Elbow post Adams was also responding, according to press reports, to recent remarks by British premier, David Cameron that, “British resolve saw off the IRA’s assaults on our way of life”, i.e that Britain defeated the IRA. So, who is …

Stakeknife is in the Police Ombudsman’s frame, but has he the tools to do the job?

Brian Walker on June 2, 2015, 11:39 am

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One of the casualties of the failure to implement the Stormont House Agreement is I presume, the extra £150 million due to have been allocated over five years for dealing with the past. Although I know of no details of how the funding was to be shared out, some of it would have been apportioned to the Police Ombudsman, an office whose reputation has been revived by the redoubtable Dr Michael Maguire. He issued a warning last year of the consequences of budget …

Lord Carlile: “Peace is in no small way the result of these efforts by PSNI and MI5 personnel.”

Pete Baker on March 26, 2015, 7:33 pm

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On 20th March the Order in Council extending the operations of the UK National Crime Agency to Northern Ireland came into power – despite the challenge that presents to the Speaker of the NI Assembly – bringing us into line with the rest of the UK in the process. On the same date the NI Secretary of State of State, Theresa Villiers, made a written statement to the House of Commons on the report by Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of national security …

Martin: I believe that we can build a safer, fairer, more confident community in Northern Ireland.

Soapbox on March 26, 2015, 12:07 pm

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The Towards a Better Future conference starts today in Belfast. Writing for Slugger, the Assistant Chief Constable of the PSNI, Stephen Martin, writes about policing and hate crime Since May 2014, we have arrested 95 people and charged 46 of them with offences linked to hate crimes in the Belfast area. This sends out a clear message that those who commit hate crimes will face consequences. However, none of this will address the underlying causes of the hatred which we …

Assembly’s ‘consent’ for National Crime Agency Order is a challenge to the Speaker

Pete Baker on March 23, 2015, 4:22 pm

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In a Parliamentary written answer last week (16 March), the Secretary of State gave an update on the progress of the Draft Order in Council which will extend the operation of the National Crime Agency to Northern Ireland. Here’s what Teresa Villiers said. The Northern Ireland Assembly recently agreed to the making of an Order which will enable the National Crime Agency (NCA) to be fully operational in Northern Ireland. That Order has been considered by Committees in both the …

“it looks like they were repeatedly blocked from accessing vital pieces of evidence or pursuing certain suspects…”

Pete Baker on March 7, 2015, 4:54 pm

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The Guardian and Observer’s Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly, reports on the campaign for justice by the family of Heidi Hazell, the 26-year-old German wife of a British army sergeant, murdered by the Provisional IRA outside her married quarters in Unna-Massen, a Dortmund suburb, on 7 September 1989. From the Guardian report The following day the IRA claimed responsibility for what was its first and only murder in West Germany of a British soldier’s wife. In a statement the organisation said she had …