Terrorism – Page 14 – Slugger O'Toole

Basil McCrea and Brian Ervine on the HET

Turgon on March 15, 2011, 1:08 pm

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The News Letter is reporting Basil McCrea expressing concern about potential bias in the work of the Historical Enquires Team. An FoI request has apparently revealed that all but one of the 71 arrests they have made has been of loyalists. McCrea appears to support the attempts to arrest loyalist criminals but points out that since the majority of the murders here were committed by the IRA, significant resources should also be devoted to the arrest of those criminals. He …

“I would like to say vigilantism won’t work…”

Pete Baker on March 14, 2011, 2:13 pm

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Worth noting, I think, the comments by a local “community worker” following the shooting in the legs of a 20-year-old man in Strabane last night. From the BBC report Mr Gallagher said he also saw the man’s father, who had been searching for his son, before finding him shot. He said he believed that the shooting was carried out by the vigilante group, RAAD (Republican Action Against Drugs). “From a community aspect I would like to say vigilantism won’t work. It’s never worked …

Dissident threat makes FT take arguments for public spending seriously

Brian Walker on February 24, 2011, 11:01 am

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It’s worth noting that the influential Financial Times has homed in on whether there is an economic dimension to the rise of dissident repulbican violence. T he timing is interesting, coming in the midst of the NI budget wrangle and on the eve of the Irish general election. The paper’s excellent Ireland correspondent John Murray Brown has been to the Kilwilkie estate, a centre of dissidence. The paper also carries an overview which is sympathetic to the view that for …

London 2012. Sports minister’s daft remarks on dissidents

Brian Walker on February 15, 2011, 6:33 pm

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If you’re badly in need of an adrenalin shot or a boost to the wrong people, this is the announcement for you – and just as the events schedule and ticket prices are unveiled. More blurted out than premeditated? Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution …

“I recognise and support the desire for full transparency in politics…”

Pete Baker on February 7, 2011, 1:54 pm

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Last month Gonzo noted the UK “Government’s response to the public consultation on the confidentiality arrangements that apply to donations and loans to Northern Ireland political parties.” NIO minister Hugo Swire was quite explicit that the reason the identities of donors to political parties would remain secret was the threat of intimidation. But it’s possibly worth highlighting one of the Government’s proposals in particular [pdf file] 13. There remains strong opposition from some sources to the release of all details …

Denis Donaldson inquest adjourned again – redux – redux

Pete Baker on January 29, 2011, 2:21 pm

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Previously adjourned, for the fifth time, in August last year, the Irish News reports that the inquest into the 2006 death of former senior Sinn Féin figure Denis Donaldson has been adjourned again – a further pre-inquest hearing will be held on May 5. From the Irish News report It is understood a key witness in the investigation has been taken into protective custody after allegedly revealing where the gun used to kill Mr Donaldson was buried. The coroner told [Garda Superintendent Michael …

Retrial of Gerard Mackin collapses

Pete Baker on January 27, 2011, 1:24 pm

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The BBC reports that the prosecution counsel in the retrial of Gerard Mackin for the murder of 36-year-old Edward Burns, who was shot dead in west Belfast in March 2007, has told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin that the state would not be proceeding with the charges. The retrial was ordered in July 2010 when the Appeal Court in Dublin ruled that evidence taken in a Belfast court, including that of the chief prosecution witness, Mr Damien O’Neill, had not …

“The prize of going down in history as the government that brought about the end of Eta must be tempting”

Pete Baker on January 18, 2011, 1:58 pm

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The Irish Times‘ Paddy Woodworth reports on the latest developments following ETA’s declaration of a “permanent, general, and internationally verifiable” ceasefire. From the Irish Times report A document leaked to the Spanish newspaper El País at the weekend appears to confirm that Eta is still locked into the dogma that “armed struggle” will remain an essential element in the pursuit of Basque independence. According to the paper, a resolution passed by the group, following an internal debate after its initial ceasefire declaration …

35 years after Kingsmills HET report due next week

Turgon on January 5, 2011, 10:23 pm

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Today is the 35th anniversary of the Kingsmills massacre. There was due to be a remembrance service this morning at the site of the murders. The News Letter is reporting that the HET is due to release its report into the murders next week. It is in the context of events such as Kingsmills that one should view the claims of the supposed Republican “intellectual” Sheehan that the conflict here was “quite civilised.” From the News Letter Colin Worton was …

‘look we tried it and it did not work and it’s not going work this time either’

Pete Baker on December 28, 2010, 12:58 pm

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The Guardian report of comments by the de facto leader of the ‘good’ UDA, Jackie McDonald, contains a significant line. From the report The UDA leader also expressed some sympathy for mainstream republicans in Sinn Féin in terms of facing up to the dissident threat. He pledged that the UDA would continue to work with Sinn Féin on sectarian flashpoints to defuse communal tensions in the 2011 loyalist marching season. “I know that it’s a Catch 22 for republicans. It’s hard …

Strand Road security upgrade: “the correct, necessary and proportionate thing to do”

Pete Baker on December 22, 2010, 1:47 pm

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The BBC reports an increase in security measures at the Strand Road police station in Londonderry in response to a “severe threat” . The station has been the target of bomb attacks twice this year. From the BBC report Bollards have been erected outside Strand Road police station in Londonderry to protect the building from attack by dissident republicans. Parking spaces adjacent to the station have also been removed, and replaced with a steel barricade. District Commander Chief Superintendent Stephen …

Robert Whalley: “The police know that the numbers of residual terrorists are growing…”

Pete Baker on December 16, 2010, 6:38 pm

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The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, has published the third annual report by the independent reviewer [pdf file], Robert Whalley, of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007. The report covers the period 1 August 2009 to 31 July 2010. The second annual report was noted here. As the NI Secretary of State says The report highlights the security situation in the past year and the activities of residual terrorist groups who have been dangerous and disruptive and remain heavily involved …

Alex Maskey: “I find it truly disrespectful that he decided to make the announcement at a public session…”

Pete Baker on December 6, 2010, 3:04 pm

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I didn’t see any immediate reaction from Sinn Féin to the Chief Constable’s announcement on Thursday that 150 officers would be redeployed to guard police stations in light of the increased threat from republican paramilitary groups. But Matt Baggott’s reported comments at Saturday’s UUP conference – that the reductions in police numbers from 13,000 to 7,000 was done too quickly – appear to have struck a nerve. The BBC reports that Sinn Féin MLA, and Northern Ireland Policing Board member, Alex Maskey, “has disagreed with the chief constable’s assessment …

“The board has failed the police in relation to this.”

Pete Baker on December 2, 2010, 6:27 pm

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After rejecting the PSNI Chief Constable’s preferred option of employing private security firms, by a “majority view”, members of the Northern Ireland Policing Board can’t have been too surprised by his announced intention to re-deploy 150 frontline officers to guard police stations in the face of the increased threat of attack by republican paramilitaries. And in related news, four men are being questioned after gardai intercepted a car containing a primed improvised mortar device near Dundalk, county Louth, on Tuesday evening. Gardai said they were …

Alex Kane on terrorist rebranding

Turgon on November 21, 2010, 9:00 pm

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I discussed the police response to dissident republicanism below. Alex Kane’s latest News Letter column sees him analysing the whole approach to terrorism. He points to Dr Martyn Frampton, of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation’s recent extensive report on the dissidents (mentioned previously by Pete Baker) Frampton concluded: “If the British state wishes to defend and preserve the peace process in Northern Ireland it must accept that the dissidents will not be joining that process. Consequently, to …

plus c’est la même chose…

Pete Baker on November 19, 2010, 2:37 pm

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Much of the media focus may be on the economic discussions in Dublin, and the former International Representative for west Belfast may be disappearing over the border… but some things don’t change. The 25-year-old man shot in both legs in west Belfast on Thursday was the third instance of a paramilitary “vigilante” shooting in the city this week. The two other shootings took place in north Belfast. A man in his 20s was shot multiple times by three men wearing balaclavas who …

Paterson holds out hopes of lower corporation tax, challenges Executive over double jobbing and local budget

Brian Walker on November 17, 2010, 12:34 am

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Secretary of State Owen Paterson has weighed in with a meaty lecture in memory of the late Lord Steinberg of Belfast giving a timescale for various initiatives ( text courtesy, Jeff Dudgeon). The paper on “ rebalancing the economy” making the whole province an enterprise zone will come in a few weeks’ time and includes an examination of a differential rate of corporation tax, also noted by Conservative Home . This will look at possible ways of turning Northern Ireland into …

The Return of the Militants

Pete Baker on November 11, 2010, 9:51 pm

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BBC Newsnight’s Liz MacKean reports in advance of the publication of a report for The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) – Return of the Militants: Violent Dissident Republicanism From the BBC report The report’s author, Martyn Frampton, told Newsnight that Northern Ireland is at a crucial juncture because of the coming together of two distinct generations of dissident republicans. Veterans disillusioned by the direction the republican movement has taken, who no longer believe the Sinn Fein political path …

“The Provisionals must accept that this will happen to them, too.”

Pete Baker on November 10, 2010, 2:53 pm

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Liam Clarke was invited to speak at the launch of Richard O’Rawe’s second book on the disputed offer to end the hunger strike in the Maze – Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer That Changed Irish History. In the News Letter he explains why and, in doing so, addresses a recent topic on Slugger. It is long past time we were free of this heavy hand, this atmosphere of threats and intimidation for anyone who tries in a serious way to …

Two police officers injured in west Belfast explosion

Pete Baker on November 5, 2010, 10:30 pm

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Two police officers are reported to have been injured in an explosion in west Belfast after a device was thrown at them as they investigated reports of a robbery at a bookmakers on the Shaws Road. According to the reports the injuries are not life-threatening but one officer sustained serious arm injuries. Adds “ONH and the other dissident groups cannot succeed where, as they point out themselves, the Provos failed” Update The BBC are now reporting that three officers were injured …