2 December 1999 Edition

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A life worth saving

By Laura Friel

     
In the past year, the RUC have informed Gerard seven times that his personal details, gathered by the RUC/British Army, had been passed into the hands of loyalist killers
A decision to deny Lower Ormeau Concerned Residents' spokesperson Gerard Rice security protection was overturned during a hearing at Belfast's High Court last Thursday, 25 November. News that the Lower Ormeau spokesperson will be admitted onto the Key Persons Protection Scheme came after NIO officials requested an adjournment to reconsider their decision.

Lawyers for Rice withdrew their application for a judicial review after being informed that the NIO accepted that their client did meet the criteria and would be included in the scheme. The decision comes after five months of wrangling culminating in an untenable decision by the NIO to deny protection because Rice's life ``was not worth saving''.

In early November, Gerard was informed the RUC had confirmed his life was in imminent danger but, according to the NIO Security Minister Adam Ingram, he did not meet the criteria for protection. The request for security was denied on the grounds that Gerard's death ``would not affect the maintenance of law and order''. ``It was a ridiculous ruling,'' says Gerard.

     
  The NIO accepted that my life and the lives of my family were in danger. What they wouldn't accept was their responsibility to do anything to protect us.  
- Gerard Rice

Gerard Rice is a quiet man, a family man with five children and ``another on the way''. As a youth worker, Gerard's working as well as domestic life is closely tied to the community within which he grew up as a child and has lived all his adult life. He even married a local girl. Anyone who knows Gerard personally finds it hard to reconcile the man with the hate figure he has become to the Orange Order and the RUC.

Sectarian parades through the nationalist Lower Ormeau Road had always been resented. The marchers' hostility towards the local population was compounded by the disruption of the RUC ``security'' operation which always accompanied Orange parades.

The decision to campaign for the rerouting of Orange marches emerged after residents were taunted by Orangemen parading through their area about the loyalist attack in Sean Graham's bookmakers. Five local people were killed and many more injured in the attack.

In 1992, the Lower Ormeau Road residents' request for sectarian marches to be rerouted was as modest as the man who emerged as their spokesperson. ``It wasn't a role I sought,'' says Gerard. ``It was a role which needed to be filled and an issue which needed to be addressed.''

After seven years as LOCC spokesperson, Gerard still speaks with the nervous hesitation of someone who wishes to be amongst the crowd he's addressing rather than on the platform with a microphone. There is no glory here, only anxiety and danger.

In the past year, the RUC have informed Gerard seven times that his personal details, gathered by the RUC/British Army, had been passed into the hands of loyalist killers. Gerard was recently informed his name was amongst the loyalist hit list recovered from Stoneyford Orange Hall.

``It not just me at risk,'' says Gerard. ``My home and my family are also under threat.'' In the early hours of November 12 the Rice family were awakened by the RUC hammering at their front door. It was 3.10am. The RUC told the family that they had received information within the last ten minutes that a loyalist attack on the house was imminent.

``They told my wife and daughter that I was about to be shot,'' says Gerard, ``and then they left.'' Lucy is seven months pregnant. The couple's daughter is 15 years of age. ``We were terrified,'' says Gerard, ``and there was nothing we could do.'' The family prayed and waited for the dawn. ``And then,'' Gerard laughs, ``we all went to work and the kids went to school.'' An ordinary day on the Lower Ormeau Road.

``We've lived under threat for years,'' says Gerard, but it was only after the murder of Rosemary Nelson that the possibility of the KPP Scheme was raised. It is widely believed that Rosemary Nelson was targeted because of her role as solicitor acting for residents contesting Orange marches along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

Inclusion on the KPP scheme was first raised during a meeting with British PM Tony Blair in Downing Street on 30 March this year. On 19 May, Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition spokesperson Breandán Mac Cionnaith was accepted onto the scheme. Gerard's solicitors then contacted the NIO. By July, the NIO had received all the information they requested and were seeking the RUC's threat assessment.

The threats and attacks continued. On 24 May, Gerard was informed by the RUC that his name and details were on a loyalist death list. In late July, the RUC informed Gerard that there was a plot to kill him while he was walking his dogs in the nearby Botanic Park.

In August, two missiles were fired through the window of the family's home. In September, the house was attacked again. The attacks continued into November. On 2 November, Gerard was informed that his application to be included on the KPP scheme had been rejected. ``Four days later,'' says Gerard, ``I was told my name and details had been found at Stoneyford.''

Last week, Gerard Rice took his case before the courts, seeking a judicial review. ``The NIO accepted that my life and the lives of my family were in danger,'' says Gerard, ``what they wouldn't accept was their responsibility to do anything to protect us.''

Imminent legal action and political pressure from both Washington and Dublin forced the NIO to reconsider its position. After a brief adjournment, NIO officials attending the hearing informed Gerard's lawyers that he would be accepted onto the KPP Scheme.

Welcoming the NIO decision to provide protection for his family, Gerard highlighted the continuing anxiety of other families who have been informed that their details are in the hands of loyalist killers. ``The onus remains on the NIO to provide protection for all these families,'' said Gerard. ``The British government shouldn't be allowed to play God with people's lives, deciding this life is worth saving and this one is not.''

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