News in Brief

Inspectorate not enough

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell's plans for a Garda Inspectorate fall short of what is needed to establish a truly accountable best practice policing service, Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh said last week. Ó Snodaigh said the Minister had to establish a fully independent civilian Policing Board as an entity separate from both the Garda Síochána and from the Garda Ombudsman's office, to which the Garda Commissioner is accountable and which operates with full public transparency. The Dublin TD added that, in view of the very serious findings of the first report of the Morris Tribunal, McDowell should amend his legislative proposals to include the establishment of an independent civilian Policing Board.

Third level fees up again

The Department of Education has announced that registration fees for third level institutions are to rise from €670 to €750, starting this year. Sinn Féin Councillor Daithí Doolan slammed the move, saying it made a mockery of the 'free fees' policy of the government, and that extra charges are being added on in other areas. He added that registration fees were certainly not conducive to attracting students from disadvantaged backgrounds to third level education.

Funding needed for Flexibus

The Meath Sinn Féin Council group has called on FÁS to continue its support for a bus service in the county that covers area not serviced by public transport. 'Flexibus' has nine employees and has carried over 17,000 people since January, but is under threat because of FÁS cuts.

The Councillors have asked FAS to ensure the survival of the essential service and to put in long term plans for its future funding.

Affordable housing sick joke

A Dublin council's first venture into the area of affordable housing has been described as a sick joke by Sinn Féin representative Michael Nolan. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, which has one of the worst records in providing social housing in the country, has just launched a scheme of 'affordable' housing with prices ranging from €200,000 to €345,000. Nolan slammed the exorbitant prices and said the council had failed once again to address the chronic shortage of social housing.

Sinn Féin meets Public Health body

Sinn Féin health spokespersons, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD and John O'Dowd MLA, met with representatives of the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPHI) on Tuesday. The meeting, which took place at Stormont, included the Institute's director, Jane Wilde.

The IPHI was set up five years ago to promote co-operation for public health on an all-Ireland basis. One of its main aims is to tackle inequalities in health.

Ó Caolain and O'Dowd said they found the meeting useful and informative. Among the issues examined was the demographic and socio-economic inequalities in health, as well as the need for all government departments, North and South, to seriously consider and take account of their policies on health and to work together more to maximise the opportunities for improving health provision on an all-Ireland basis.

EU must place sanctions on Israel

The refusal of Israel to acknowledge the UN General Assembly's overwhelming vote, demanding that it abides by an International Court of Justice decision to remove the West Bank barrier, is further reason for the EU to place sanctions against the country, Sinn Féin MLA Davy Hyland said last week.

Hyland said that while all 25 EU member states have demanded that Israel dismantle the barrier, "it will mean little unless measures are taken to ensure that they abide by this resolution". He reiterated Sinn Féin's call for the EU to immediately suspend the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement, which gives preferential trading status to Israel, until it complies with international law and observes human rights.

Civil Service dispute affects public

The ongoing dispute between civil servants in the Six Counties and the NIO is causing mayhem for the Six-County public, Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan said on Friday. The dispute has now entered its 35th week and is creating extreme hardship for some families, who have been left without access to social welfare benefits such as Disability and Carers' Allowances. McGuigan said that there are now payment backlogs of up to 12 weeks in some departments.

British censor radiation report

The British Government intends to censor a report which reportedly reveals that nuclear power stations pose a much greater risk than previously believed.

South Down Sinn Féin MLA Willie Clarke said the findings reinforce the view in Ireland that Sellafield has been responsible for the high numbers of cancer and leukemia cases found all along the East Coast of the country. He says successive British Governments and the BNFL have played Russian roulette with the health and safety of Irish people.

Dundalk expresses condolences to Cahill

Dundalk Town Council passed a motion expressing its condolences to Joe Cahill's family on Tuesday 27 July. Sinn Féin Councillor Ian Dooley proposed the motion and told the council how Joe and Annie lived in Dundalk for ten years and were respected in the community. Dooley also said Annie was a strong community activist in the Muirtheimhne Mór area.

Fianna Fáil Councillor Séamus Keelan tried to have the motion declared out of order, but after the Sinn Féin Chair Kevin Meenan seconded it, it was passed by the rest of the council.

British Army assault man

A man was hospitalised last Saturday after he was beaten around the head with rifle butts by members of a British Army/PSNI patrol, in Belleek, Armagh. Newry and Mourne Sinn Féin Councillor Jimmy McCreesh, who visited the injured man, said it was an unprovoked and vicious attack, which left the victim requiring stitches and x-rays. McCreesh said that in recent weeks local people have been stopped at checkpoints by British military and PSNI personnel and told that "South Armagh will be sorted out once and for all".

Ombudsman's office to investigate CS spray

Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has said that her office will investigate any further incidents where the new CS gas spray is used by the PSNI. O'Loan made the statement following a meeting last Thursday with the force's Deputy Chief Paul Leighton. All uses of the spray will be referred to the Ombudsman's office, under Regulation 55, section 4 of the 1998 Police Act, until the end of 2004, at which point the practice will be reviewed.

Guidelines laid down by the Association of Chief Police Officers state that the hand-held 'directional spray device' may be used in violent incidents but not in situations of major public disorder.

A number of Derry nationalists were treated for injuries caused by the spray two weeks ago. Sinn Féin later accused the police of using Derry as a testing ground for the new weapon.

Attacks on Fountain Estate must stop

Bogside Sinn Féin Councillor Peter Anderson (above) has criticised those involved in attacking the Protestant Fountain Estate in Derry last Thursday, saying they had no justification for doing so.

Anderson was speaking after 14 petrol bombs were thrown into the estate. He said those involved were "sectarian thugs without any political ideals" who were "acting on behalf of no-one except themselves".

Anderson said the attacks would not stop cross-community efforts to resolve problems in interface area and appealed to parents and community leaders to exercise influence over young people to prevent further attacks.

Post boxes go green in Tyrone

Two young republican activists have been arrested in West Tyrone after a number of Post Office boxes were painted green to resemble post boxes in the 26 Counties.

West Tyrone Sinn Féin Assembly member Barry McElduff criticised the arrests, saying the young men were engaged in legitimate civil disobedience, and asked: "Why is it so important to have these post boxes painted British colonial red? Why shouldn't they be green?"

McElduff added that the young people were doing An Post a favour by saving them the trouble of painting them green when Ireland is united. "Anybody who says a post box in Strabane and a post box in Lifford are in different countries needs their heads examined," he added.

More job losses for Mid-Ulster

Job losses at BALCAS in Magherafelt are a further blow to the local economy, Sinn Féin MP Martin McGuinness has said. The news of the losses came last week on the back of other recent heavy redundancies in the textile industry in the Mid-Ulster region. McGuinness said he would be contacting InvestNI to demand that the region be given more attention when potential investors are surveying sites for investment.

Early Years Projects threatened

West Belfast MP Gerry Adams has written to the British Direct Rule Minister Angela Smith requesting that she convene a roundtable meeting with childcare providers in North and West Belfast to discuss an impending funding crisis regarding the Early Years projects. The projects provide 802 childcare places and 867 after school places, as well as employing 500 people, in mainly working class areas. However, they are currently surviving on short-term funding from disparate sources, with many facing closure.

CCTV shows no large-scale riot

Sinn Féin has accused the PSNI of exaggerating the severity of disturbances in West Belfast last Sunday night, when a small number of youths attacked PSNI Land Rovers on the Grosvenor Road roundabout at the Westlink.

The PSNI claimed they were attacked by a crowd of around 100 people attending a bonfire held in the Devonshire area to mark the 33rd anniversary of the introduction of internment in August 1971.

West Belfast Sinn Féin MLA Fra McCann said the CCTV tapes that filmed the incident and were later released to the media, showed clearly that there were no more than a dozen or so youths involved.

"There were over 700 people attending the bonfire when a car was set on fire," McCann said. "The PSNI sent in a number of Land Rovers to investigate the incident and they were stoned by a small number of youths while the vast majority of the crowd ignored them".

Divis residents' spokesperson John Leatham told An Phoblact that the PSNI were trying to provoke a response from the crowd "by driving wildly at people.

"At no time was a crowd of 100 youths attacking PSNI vehicles," he said.

Apprentice Boys accept Commission's decision

The Apprentice Boys' request to march along the Crumlin Road past the Dales, Mountainview and the Ardoyne shops, in North Belfast this Saturday, has been refused by the Parades Commission.

Members of the Ligoniel Walkers' Club, who wanted to parade down the road on their way to another march in Derry, were told last Friday of the Commission's determination.

In a statement, the Commission said it was aware that there was "considerable anger" among nationalist residents of North Belfast, after hundreds of loyalist thugs were escorted through the area by the PSNI on 12th, despite a ruling forbidding their passage.

"We have cause to believe that should the parade proceed without restriction there will be an adverse effect on fragile community relations and potential for public disorder," it said.

Responding, the Apprentice Boys said they would not appeal the decision, as there was "no point".

Tommy Cheevers of the Ligoniel Walkers' Club claimed it was "a political decision based on public order consideration and nothing to do with our parade.

"We will, in the weeks ahead, be measuring and focusing our response in an appropriate manner," he said.

Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly welcomed the news and said: "This was the only sensible decision that could have been reached."

GAA supporters' bus stoned Tyrone

Two women returning to Tyrone following the GAA match in Croke Park last Saturday, suffered severe injuries after loyalists stoned a bus they and other Tyrone supporters were travelling in. The bus was passing by the loyalist Edenaveys Estate on the Newry Road, just South of Armagh city, when the incident took place.

One young girl was stuck in the chest by a brick, while another female passenger received cuts and bruises to her face.

South Armagh Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy said it was only through good fortune that serious injury or loss of life was not caused in what he described as a "vicious and violent sectarian attack".

"There are those in our society who vindicate this type of attack by vilifying the GAA through dangerous and unqualified statements", Murphy said.

Belfast

In Belfast, unionist paramilitaries have been accused of attempting to intimidate Catholic residents after dozens of UVF and Red Hand Commando flags were erected at the Cutts in Dunmurry, near the Derriaghy Road. Sinn Féin Lagan Valley Councillor Paul Butler said concerned residents in the new Barleywood Mill development had contacted him after the flags were erected on every lamppost in the estate.

Butler said a Red Hand Commando flag had even been erected outside the Oakwood Integrated School.

The Sinn Féin councillor now plans to write to the Police Ombudsman to protest about the flying of these flags.

"The PSNI needs to take action on these offensive flags and remove them," Butler said.

Maghera

Meanwhile, a Catholic family in Maghera were subjected to a malicious and terrifying ordeal on Sunday, when unionist paramilitaries left a suspicious device outside their home.

A woman discovered the object outside her Meeting House Avenue home at around 7.30am, but it was later declared part of an elaborate hoax.

Volunteer Harry McEntee remembered

• IRA Volunteer Harry McEntee was honoured by Dublin republicans on Friday 30 July. McEntee was murdered after being captured by Free State forces and his body was dumped in a field at St Margaret's behind Ballymun on 1 August 1923.